Engineered Female-Specific Lethality for Control of Pest Lepidoptera

Jin, Li; Walker, Adam; Fu, Guoliang; Harvey-Samuel, Timothy; Dafa'alla, Tarig; Miles, Andrea M.; Marubbi, Thea; Granville, Deborah; Humphrey-Jones, Nerys; O’Connell, Sinead; Morrison, Neil I.; Alphey, Luke

doi:10.1021/sb300123m

Cited by 82 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

129

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The tetracycline-repressible transactivator (tTAV) protein is expressed only in females through the use of a sex-specific alternative splicing module (11,24). Accumulation of tTAV in females, designed to occur through a positive feedback loop with the tetracycline response element (tetO) (13,17,25,26), induces female-specific lethality during embryonic and early larval stages in the absence of dietary tetracycline, whereas males survive the whole life cycle without lethal tTAV expression. Therefore, a long-term goal of male-only rearing in sericulture has been achieved through this approach.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgene-based, female-specific lethality system for genetic sexing of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Tan

Jin

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

120

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Transgene-based genetic sexing methods are being developed for insects of agricultural and public health importance. Male-only rearing has long been sought in sericulture because males show superior economic characteristics, such as better fitness, lower food consumption, and higher silk yield. Here we report the establishment of a transgene-based genetic sexing system for the silkworm, Bombyx mori. We developed a construct in which a positive feedback loop regulated by sex-specific alternative splicing leads to high-level expression of the tetracycline-repressible transactivator in females only. Transgenic animals show female-specific lethality during embryonic and early larval stages, leading to male-only cocoons. This transgene-based female-specific lethal system not only has wide application in sericulture, but also has great potential in lepidopteran pest control.Lepidoptera | doublesex T he mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori, is a completely domesticated insect and is the foundation of sericulture, an endeavor of great economic importance. It is believed that sericulture originated in China and has been conducted there for more than 5,000 y (1). Male-only rearing techniques for B. mori are desirable because males show higher resistance to disease, lower food consumption, and better silk quality (2). To this end, several B. mori strains for male-only rearing have been developed by classical genetics. In the last century, Strunnikov (3) established a sex-linked, balanced-lethal system using radiation-induced chromosome translocations. However, conventional approaches involving selective breeding or irradiation for developing male-only silkworm strains are time and labor consuming. Thus, novel approaches are desired to improve modern silkworm breeding. In recent years, advances in B. mori genetic manipulation, notably genetic transformation, have been successfully established and applied extensively in gene function analysis and the production of bioreactors (1, 4-7). These technologies provide a potential basis for improvements in sericulture including the development of a male-only rearing system.Transgene-based genetic sexing systems have been developed in Drosophila melanogaster (8, 9) and several medically and agriculturally important insect species (10-13) as part of a series of genetics-based improvements and alternatives to the sterile insect technique (14). Systems based on sex-specific lethality for improving silk production are preferable to those using differential expression of a marker gene, for example fluorescence, which then would require manual or automated examination of each individual as part of the sorting process. Molecular designs developed for Diptera should be able to provide genetic sexing in B. mori, as the ability to transfer systems from one species to another is a key advantage of transgenic approaches over classical genetic methods (14-16). Furthermore, despite early reports to the contrary, more recent work has established clearly that transgenic strains can be developed with good...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgene-based, female-specific lethality system for genetic sexing of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Tan

Jin

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

120

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although both approaches could involve disrupting normal female development, the gene drive approach is more efficient due to the non-Mendelian copying mechanism that spreads the transgene through the targeted population. Although transgenic strains carrying conditional female-lethal genes have been developed for several important agricultural insect pests (Ant et al 2012;Schetelig and Handler 2012;Jin et al 2013;Li et al 2014;Concha et al 2016), they have not yet been utilized for pest control. For these strains, multiple successive releases of transgenic males in large excess over the wild-type males (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the advent of insect genetic engineering, the British company, Oxitec, developed a strain of DBM in which the female larvae died if they did not have tetracycline in their food (Jin et al 2013). Release of such a strain should be an improvement over use of irradiated moths, because only males would be released and heterozygous male offspring that carry one copy of the transgene would transmit the female-killing element to half of the next generation of offspring (Schliekelman and Gould 2000;Thomas et al 2000).…”

Section: Diamondback Mothmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural production: assessment of the potential use of Cas9-mediated gene drive systems for agricultural pest control

Scott

Gould

Lorenzen

et al. 2017

Journal of Responsible Innovation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…One important outcome is dominant female‐specific lethality, alternatively described as male‐selecting constructs (Heinrich & Scott, 2000; Thomas et al ., 2000; Fu et al ., 2007, 2010; Wise de Valdez et al ., 2011; Ant et al ., 2012; Labbé et al ., 2012; Jin et al ., 2013; Tan et al ., 2013) (Fig. 1B).…”

Section: Sterile Insect Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Males engineered with female‐lethality acting in synergy with Bt crops could be effective in a wide range of ecological and genetic scenarios (Alphey et al ., 2009). Building on this theoretical work, genetic strains of diamondback moth with the female‐lethal trait have been developed (Jin et al ., 2013) and tested for fitness costs with population‐level effects (Harvey‐Samuel et al ., 2014). Proof of principle of population suppression combined with resistance dilution has now been demonstrated in field‐cage experiments with experimental Bt broccoli (Harvey‐Samuel et al ., 2015) and work is progressing towards open field trials to evaluate performance in an agricultural habitat (Cornell University, 2016; Oxitec Ltd, 2016).…”

Section: Integrating Pest Management Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics‐based methods for agricultural insect pest management

Alphey

Bonsall

2017

Agri and Forest Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The sterile insect technique is an area‐wide pest control method that reduces agricultural pest populations by releasing mass‐reared sterile insects, which then compete for mates with wild insects. Contemporary genetics‐based technologies use insects that are homozygous for a repressible dominant lethal genetic construct rather than being sterilized by irradiation.Engineered strains of agricultural pest species, including moths such as the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella and fruit flies such as the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata, have been developed with lethality that only operates on females.Transgenic crops expressing insecticidal toxins are widely used; the economic benefits of these crops would be lost if toxin resistance spread through the pest population. The primary resistance management method is a high‐dose/refuge strategy, requiring toxin‐free crops as refuges near the insecticidal crops, as well as toxin doses sufficiently high to kill wild‐type insects and insects heterozygous for a resistance allele.Mass‐release of toxin‐sensitive engineered males (carrying female‐lethal genes), as well as suppressing populations, could substantially delay or reverse the spread of resistance. These transgenic insect technologies could form an effective resistance management strategy.We outline some policy considerations for taking genetic insect control systems through to field implementation.

show abstract

Engineered Female-Specific Lethality for Control of Pest Lepidoptera

Cited by 82 publications

References 30 publications

Transgene-based, female-specific lethality system for genetic sexing of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Transgene-based, female-specific lethality system for genetic sexing of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Agricultural production: assessment of the potential use of Cas9-mediated gene drive systems for agricultural pest control

Genetics‐based methods for agricultural insect pest management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About