Ebook: Advances in Agrochemicals: Ion Channels and G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) As Targets for Pest Control

Pest management often depends on the use of chemical insecticides that affect important physiological and pharmacological processes in arthropods. The development of chemical insecticides has primarily attacked the arthropod nervous system by targeting and disrupting the function of ligand-gated or voltage-gated ion channels. The use of broad classes of synthetic chemistries with common modes of action, along with the widespread, and sometimes improper, use of chemical insecticides has resulted in the urgent need to find new chemistry and novel or underutilized targets, such as G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for screening, discovery, and development of novel agrochemicals.

This book features contributions from the most highly regarded insecticide scientists in the world. It offers chapters that describe investigations on GPCR's that document the substantial progress that has been made recently in understanding the mechanisms of ligand interactions at the receptors, the downstream cascades, and the exciting promise that this large class of receptors has as targets for new agrochemical products. Multiple experts focus on the latest developments on characterization of their molecular pharmacology, on dopamine-specific GPCRs, and on the breadth of various GPCRs as future targets.