Scholarly Literature
This is a database of scholarly literature that concentrates currently on natural and engineered selfish genetic elements (gene drives). The latest are shown here.
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Susceptibility of Wolbachia mosquito control to temperature shifts
Tags: Aedes, Dengue, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaE. P. Caragata, Nature Climate Change, 13:767-768. 2023.
Vásquez and colleagues consider the potential impacts of increasing and variable temperatures on Wolbachia-based population-replacement interventions. Previous laboratory experiments have highlighted the temperature-sensitive nature of Wolbachia, with high average daily ...
Ability of a selfish B chromosome to evade genome elimination in the jewel wasp, Nasonia vitripennis
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Other arthropods, Selfish genetic elements, Sex distorter, Transmission distortionH. Lee, P. Seo, S. Teklay, E. Yuguchi, E. D. Benetta, J. H. Werren and P. M. Ferree, Heredity, 2023.
B chromosomes are non-essential, extra chromosomes that can exhibit transmission-enhancing behaviors, including meiotic drive, mitotic drive, and induction of genome elimination, in plants and animals. A fundamental but poorly understood question is what characteristics allow B ...
X chromosome drive is constrained by sexual selection and influences ornament evolution
Tags: Other arthropods, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortionK. A. Paczolt, G. T. Welsh and G. S. Wilkinson, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290:20230929. 2023.
Experimental evolution provides an integrative method for revealing complex interactions among evolutionary processes. One such interaction involves sex-linked selfish genetic elements and sexual selection. X-linked segregation distorters, a type of selfish genetic element, ...
Effects of γ-Irradiation on Mating Behavior of Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier, 1790) (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae)
Tags: Invasive species, Sterile insect technique (SIT)M. Cristofaro, C. Fornari, F. Mariani, A. Cemmi, M. Guedj, M. L. Ben Jamaa, M. Msaad Guerfali, E. Tabone, R. Castellana, R. Sasso and S. Musmeci, Insects, 14. 2023.
Red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier 1790) is a highly invasive species originating from Southeast Asia and Melanesia. Over the past 30 years, this alien pest has spread extensively in the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin. Its endophagous larvae feed on ...
First Detection and Genetic Identification of Wolbachia Endosymbiont in Field-Caught Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes Collected from Southern Taiwan
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Incompatible insect techniqueL.-L. Chao and C.-M. Shih, Microorganisms, 11. 2023.
The prevalence and genetic character of Wolbachia endosymbionts in field-collected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were examined for the first time in Taiwan. A total of 665 Ae. aegypti were screened for Wolbachia infection using a PCR assay targeting the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) ...
Cost-effectiveness of Precision Guided SIT for Control of Anopheles gambiae in the Upper River Region, The Gambia
Tags: Anopheles, Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Malaria, Sterile insect technique (SIT)G. William, R. Robyn, M. Agastya, M. S. C. Hector, S. Andrea, Z. David, G. I. Patrick, D. Umberto, Alessandro, M. M. John and A. Omar, bioRxiv, 2023.07.20.549762. 2023.
Precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) is an extremely promising vector control intervention that can reduce and potentially eliminate the unacceptable malaria burden, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Here we explore the cost effectiveness of using this approach in ...
Eliminating Malaria Vectors with Precision Guided Sterile Males
Tags: Anopheles, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Sterile insect technique (SIT)L. S. Andrea, A. A. Reema, J. P. James, L. C. Martha, C. Sanle, M. Agastya, M. S. C. Hector, A. Igor, M. M. John and S. A. Omar, bioRxiv, 2023.07.20.549947. 2023.
Controlling the principal African malaria vector, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, is considered essential to curtail malaria transmission. However existing vector control technologies rely on insecticides, which are becoming increasingly ineffective. Sterile insect technique ...
A natural gene drive system confers reproductive isolation in rice
Tags: Agriculture, Toxin-antidote, Transmission distortionC. Wang, J. Wang, J. Lu, Y. Xiong, Z. Zhao, X. Yu, X. Zheng, J. Li, Q. Lin, Y. Ren, Y. Hu, X. He, C. Li, Y. Zeng, R. Miao, M. Guo, B. Zhang, Y. Zhu, Y. Zhang, W. Tang, Y. Wang, B. Hao, Q. Wang, S. Cheng, X. He, B. Yao, J. Gao, X. Zhu, H. Yu, Y. Wang, Y. S, Cell, 2023.
Hybrid sterility restricts the utilization of superior heterosis of indica-japonica inter-subspecific hybrids. In this study, we report the identification of RHS12, a major locus controlling male gamete sterility in indica-japonica hybrid rice. We show that RHS12 consists of two ...
Population suppression by release of insects carrying a dominant sterile homing gene drive targeting doublesex in Drosophila
Tags: CRISPR, Fruit fly, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Modeling, Population suppression, Sex distorter, Sterile insect technique (SIT), Synthetic biologyC. Weizhe, G. Jialiang, L. Yiran and C. Jackson, bioRxiv, 2023.07.17.549342. 2023.
Gene drive alleles, which bias their own inheritance and increase in frequency, show great promise for blocking disease transmission or directly suppressing pest populations. The most common engineered drive system is the CRISPR homing drive, which converts wild-type alleles to ...
Modeling the Impact of Migration on Mosquito Population Suppression
Tags: Incompatible insect technique, Modeling, Population suppression, WolbachiaM. Huang and J. Yu, Qualitative Theory of Dynamical Systems, 22:134. 2023.
The Wolbachia-induced incompatible insect technique is a promising strategy for controlling wild mosquito populations. However, recent experimental studies have shown that mosquito migration into target areas dilutes the strategy’s effectiveness. In this work, we formulate a ...
Engineered Gut Symbiotic Bacterium-Mediated RNAi for Effective Control of Anopheles Mosquito Larvae
Tags: Anopheles, Genetic biocontrol, Malaria, Other SymbiontsJ. J. Ding, C. L. Cui, G. D. Wang, G. Wei, L. Bai, Y. F. Li, P. L. Sun, L. Dong, Z. C. Liu, J. Q. Yun, F. Li, K. Li, L. He and S. B. Wang, Microbiology Spectrum, 2023.
Anopheles mosquitoes are the primary vectors for the transmission of malaria parasites, which poses a devastating burden on global public health and welfare. The recent invasion of Anopheles stephensi in Africa has made malaria eradication more challenging due to its outdoor ...
New germline Cas9 promoters show improved performance for homing gene drive
Tags: CRISPR, Fruit fly, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Replicator/site directed nucleaseD. Jie, C. Weizhe, J. Xihua, X. Xuejiao, Y. Emily, Z. Ruizhi, Z. Yuqi, M. Matt, W. M. Philipp and C. Jackson, bioRxiv, 2023.07.16.549205. 2023.
Gene drive systems could be a viable strategy to prevent pathogen transmission or suppress vector populations by propagating drive alleles with super-Mendelian inheritance. CRISPR-based homing gene drives, perhaps the most powerful gene drive strategy, convert wild type alleles ...
Optimization of Dieldrin Selection for the Genetic Sexing of Aedes albopictus
Tags: Sterile insect technique (SIT)S. Scussel, B. Gaudillat, J. Esnault, Q. Lejarre, M. Duployer, D. Messaoudi, P. Mavingui, P. Tortosa and J. Cattel, Insects, 14. 2023.
The mass production of mosquitoes at an industrial scale requires efficient sex separation, which can be achieved through mechanical, genetic or artificial intelligence means. Compared with other methods, the genetic sexing approach offers the advantage of limiting costs and ...
Teosinte Pollen Drive guides maize domestication and evolution by RNAi
Tags: Agriculture, Chromosomal drive, Transmission distortionB. Berube , E. Ernst, J. Cahn, B. Roche, C. d. S. Alves, A. Scheben, A. Siepel, J. Ross-Ibarra, J. Kermicle and R. Martienssen, bioRxiv, 2023.07.12.548689. 2023.
Meiotic drivers subvert Mendelian expectations by manipulating reproductive development to bias their own transmission. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, while gene drive is normally postmeiotic and typically found in males. Using single molecule ...
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Sex distorter, Wolbachia
N. Wybouw, E. Van Reempts, J. Zarka, F. Zélé and D. Bonte, Heredity, 2023.
Maternally transmitted symbionts such as Wolbachia can alter sex allocation in haplodiploid arthropods. By biasing population sex ratios towards females, these changes in sex allocation may facilitate the spread of symbionts. In contrast to symbiont-induced cytoplasmic ...
Fighting the battle against evolution: designing genetically modified organisms for evolutionary stability
Tags: Evolution, Gene drive, Genetic biocontrol, Synthetic biologyM. Arbel-Groissman, I. Menuhin-Gruman, D. Naki, S. Bergman and T. Tuller, Trends in Biotechnology, 2023.
Synthetic biology has made significant progress in many areas, but a major challenge that has received limited attention is the evolutionary stability of synthetic constructs made of heterologous genes. The expression of these constructs in microorganisms, that is, production of ...
Dual effector population modification gene-drive strains of the African malaria mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Population modification/replacementR. Carballar-Lejarazú, Y. Dong, T. B. Pham, T. Tushar, R. M. Corder, A. Mondal, H. M. Sánchez C, H.-F. Lee, J. M. Marshall, G. Dimopoulos and A. A. James, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120:e2221118120. 2023.
Proposed genetic approaches for reducing human malaria include population modification, which introduces genes into vector mosquitoes to reduce or prevent parasite transmission. We demonstrate the potential of Cas9/guide RNA (gRNA)?based gene-drive systems linked to dual ...
The cellular lives of Wolbachia
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Population modification/replacement, Population suppression, WolbachiaJ. Porter and W. Sullivan, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2023.
Wolbachia are successful Gram-negative bacterial endosymbionts, globally infecting a large fraction of arthropod species and filarial nematodes. Efficient vertical transmission, the capacity for horizontal transmission, manipulation of host reproduction and enhancement of host ...
Estimating mosquito abundance and population suppression in an incompatible insect technique study
Tags: Aedes, Incompatible insect technique, ModelingL. Griffin, D. Pagendam, C. Drovandi, B. Trewin and N. W. Beebe, Journal of Applied Ecology, 2023.
Our model can provide valuable insights that can shape decision support systems in sterile insect technique and incompatible insect technique programmes operating over large geographical scales. The model helps determine how many sterile/incompatible insects should be released ...
Genome and Transcriptome Analyses Facilitate Genetic Control of Wohlfahrtia magnifica, a Myiasis-Causing Flesh Fly
Tags: Agriculture, Genetic biocontrol, Other mammalsZ. Jia, S. Hasi, D. Zhan, B. Hou, C. Vogl and P. A. Burger, Insects, 14. 2023.
Myiasis caused by Wohlfahrtia magnifica is a widespread parasitic infestation in mammals. The infested host suffers from damage as the developing larvae feed on its tissues. For the control of myiasis infestation, genetic methods have been shown to be effective and promising as ...

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