牛蜱与水牛蝇被确定为澳大利亚红肉行业经济损失最高的两类地方性虫害，二者合计造成3亿澳元的经济损失，澳大利亚北部受影响尤为严重。

有报告显示水牛蝇正持续向南扩散，且对现有防控手段的抗药性不断增强，若不采取干预措施，相关损失或将进一步扩大。

由澳大利亚肉类及畜牧业协会（MLA）资助的研究正在开展，旨在研发可同时应对这两种害虫的新型杀虫剂，并尽可能降低对蜜蜂、蜣螂等益虫的危害风险。

悉尼大学乔尔·麦凯教授及其团队借鉴人类药物研发领域的前沿技术开展杀虫剂研发工作。

“人类药物研发的核心原理是，找到引发问题的特定蛋白质，再设计分子，使其构型刚好嵌入该蛋白的空腔，以此抑制蛋白活性，好比一把尺寸精准的扳手卡住运转部件。”乔尔介绍道。

“蜱虫体内有成千上万种各司其职的蛋白质。我们选定一种蜱虫生存不可或缺的蛋白作为靶点，目前正在设计能够抑制该蛋白活性的分子。”

这项为期五年的项目将对约20万种分子开展试验，筛选出潜力分子并精细优化，使其适配牛蜱靶标蛋白。

“与此同时，我们会评估候选分子是否也会抑制蜣螂与蜜蜂体内同源蛋白的活性。”他表示。

“我们将推进仅选择性抑制牛蜱蛋白的分子进入后续研究。”

这套研发流程同样将应用于水牛蝇的防治研究。

“大多数杀虫剂存在一个难题：牛蜱和蜣螂体内的靶标蛋白构型相近，因此很难找到只作用于蜱虫的分子。”乔尔说道。

“这也是多数杀虫剂属于广谱药剂，而非选择性药剂的原因。

我们选取的靶标蛋白，在不同昆虫、蜱虫等生物体内存在细微差异，这让我们有机会筛选出只针对有害虫害起效的分子。”

浇泼剂、药浴制剂、喷雾药剂以及杀虫耳标，都是用于降低牛蜱与水牛蝇危害的常用手段。

出于健康与安全考量，广泛使用的杀虫剂二嗪磷已于2025年9月逐步禁用，致使针对这两类害虫的药剂出现供给缺口。

项目结束后，乔尔及其团队希望为一套通用研发思路提供概念验证，用以开发安全性更高、环境友好型杀虫剂。

“我们也在试验这套技术，以期赋能其他农业领域乃至医药领域，例如在不伤害益虫的前提下防治瓦螨与疟蚊，”乔尔表示。

“能够研发出药效强劲，同时兼具安全性与靶向选择性的杀虫剂，我们对此前景满怀期待。”

消息来源：MLA

Cattle tick and buffalo fly have been identified as the two highest-cost endemic disease issues for the Australian red meat industry – combined, they’re a $300 million problem, particularly in northern Australia.

With reports of the buffalo fly spreading further south and rising resistance to current controls, the cost is likely to grow without intervention.

MLA-supported research is underway to develop new pesticides to combat both pests, while minimising the risk for beneficial insects such as bees and dung beetles.

Professor Joel Mackay of The University of Sydney and his team are developing the pesticides using the same cutting-edge strategies applied in human pharmaceutical development.

“The principle behind human drug discovery is to identify the individual protein which is causing the issue and then inhibit its activity by developing a molecule with a shape that is sculpted to wedge into a cavity in the protein – a precisely shaped spanner in the works,” Joel said.

“A tick has thousands of different proteins that do many different jobs. We have chosen as our target a protein that is essential for the tick’s survival and we are now working on the design of a molecule to inhibit its activity.”

During the five-year project, around 200,000 molecules will be trialled, and the most promising ones will be carefully honed to fit into this cattle tick protein.

“At the same time, we will be assessing whether these candidate molecules also inhibit the activity of the corresponding protein in dung beetles and honeybees,” he said.

“We will be advancing with the molecules that selectively inhibit the cattle tick protein.”

The same process will be used to target the buffalo fly.

“The issue with most insecticides is that the protein that they target has a similar shape in the cattle tick and dung beetle have a similar shape, so it’s difficult to find a molecule that will only impact the tick,” Joel said.

“That’s why a lot of insecticides are broad spectrum, rather than selective.

“Our protein target is subtly different between different types of insects, ticks and so on, meaning that we have the opportunity to find molecules that are selective for the bad guys”.

Bringing more control to market

Pour-ons, dips, sprays and insecticidal ear tags are all commonly used to help combat the impact of cattle ticks and buffalo flies.

In September 2025, the widely-used insecticide ‘Diazinon’ was phased out due to health and safety concerns, leaving a gap in insecticides for both pests.

Following the project’s conclusion, Joel and his team hope to provide a proof-of-concept for a generic approach to the development of safer and more environmentally friendly insecticides.

“We’re also trialling this approach to assist in other agricultural industries – and in medicine, including suppressing Varroa mite and the Malaria mosquito without harming other, beneficial insects,” Joel said.

“We’re really excited about the prospect of making a pesticide that is not only potent, but safe and selective.”

Source：MLA