Identification of cis-acting elements in response to fenvalerate in the CYP6B7 promoter of Helicoverpa armigera

Cytochrome P450-mediated detoxification plays an important role in the development of insecticide resistance. Previous studies have shown that cytochrome P450 CYP6B7 was induced by fenvalerate and involved in fenvalerate detoxification in Helicoverpa armigera. However, the transcriptional regulation of CYP6B7 induced by fenvalerate remains unclear. Here, a series of progressive 5′ deletions of CYP6B7 promoter reporter genes were constructed, and the relative luciferase activities were detected. The results revealed that the relative luciferase activity of plasmid p (−655/−1) was significantly induced by fenvalerate. Further deletion of the region between −655 and −486 bp showed that the highest luciferase activity induced by fenvalerate was observed in plasmid p (−528/−1), while p (−485/−1) had the lowest fenvalerate-induced luciferase activity. Moreover, internal deletion and mutation in the region between −508 and −486 bp resulted in a significant reduction in fenvalerate-induced CYP6B7 promoter activity, suggesting that the cis-acting element responsible for fenvalerate in the CYP6B7 promoter was located between −508 and −486 bp. These results promote an understanding of the expression regulation mechanism of P450 genes that conferring resistance to insecticides.