PROINSECTICIDES

Pro-insecticides are chemical compounds, the bioactivation of which occurs in the body of insects, where they are transformed into metabolites with greater insecticidal activity. These substances account for 20% of the total amount of insecticides on the market, and they account for 34% of the value of all world sales. Only after many years of use of insecticides did it become known that a significant part of them are precursors. According to the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC), about 40% of chemical groups contain precursors that require structural changes to manifest their insecticidal properties. Currently, 16 chemical groups of insecticides are known, in which there are representatives of pro-insecticides. The main molecular targets are: nicotine-acetylcholine receptor (NAChR), voltage-gated K- and Na-channels, Cl-channel of the GABAreceptor, Cl-channel of glutamate receptor, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and ryanodine receptor (RyR). The main direction of using pro-insecticides is the control of insecticide-resistant insect populations. The review summarizes and analyzes modern data on pro-insecticides, describes the main representatives and the mechanism of their transformation in the insect organism. Key words: pro-insecticides, insecticide resistance, insecticide mode of action, bioactivation