2011/01/01 by Nisa S. Nath, Ishita Bhattacharya, Andrew G. Tuck +2 · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Insect and Pesticide Research #Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity #Insect Pest Control Strategies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1155/2011/494168
openalex publication_date 2011/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
Fumigation with phosphine gas is by far the most widely used treatment for the protection of stored grain against insect pests. The development of high-level resistance in insects now threatens its continued use. As there is no suitable chemical to replace phosphine, it is essential to understand the mechanisms of phosphine toxicity to increase the effectiveness of resistance management. Because phosphine is such a simple molecule (PH(3)), the chemistry of phosphorus is central to its toxicity. The elements above and below phosphorus in the periodic table are nitrogen (N) and arsenic (As), which also produce toxic hydrides, namely, NH(3) and AsH(3). The three hydrides cause related symptoms and similar changes to cellular and organismal physiology, including disruption of the sympathetic nervous system, suppressed energy metabolism and toxic changes to the redox state of the cell. We propose that these three effects are interdependent contributors to phosphine toxicity.