1. The nitroguanidine insecticide imidacloprid along with a second generation of related compounds including nitenpyram, all nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor ligands, are used increasingly in many countries. Site-directed mutagenesis and heterologous expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes have been deployed to investigate mutants (G189D and G189E) of the chicken alpha7 homomer-forming nicotinic receptor subunit which are predicted to enhance the negative charge at the negative subsite (loop D) of the ACh binding site. 2. Xenopus oocytes expressing wild-type alpha7 nicotinic receptors respond to imidacloprid with rapid inward currents. Imidacloprid and nitenpyram are partial agonists, whereas ACh, (-)-nicotine and (+)-epibatidine are full agonists. 3. Compared to wild-type alpha7, the mutant G189D and G189E receptors are much less sensitive to the insecticides, whereas their sensitivity to (-)-nicotine, ACh and (+)-epibatidine is only slightly reduced. In contrast, G189N and G189Q mutants are sensitive not only to ACh, (-)-nicotine and (+)-epibatidine, but also to the two insecticides. Thus reduction of the insecticide-sensitivity by the mutations G189D and G189E are attributed to an increase in negativity of loop D. Desnitro-imidacloprid (DN-IMI), an imidacloprid derivative lacking the nitro group is a potent agonist on the G189D and G189E mutants suggesting an important role of loop D in nicotinic receptor interactions with the nitro group of nitroguanidine insecticides.