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.
Disclaimer>
Unravelling transmission ratio distortion across the bovine genome: identification of candidate regions for reproduction defects
Tags: Other mammals, Transmission distortionS. Id-Lahoucine, J. Casellas, A. Suárez-Vega, P. A. S. Fonseca, F. S. Schenkel, M. Sargolzaei and A. Cánovas, BMC Genomics, 24:383. 2023.
Our results revealed the importance of implementing different TRD parameterizations to capture all types of distortions and to determine the corresponding inheritance pattern. Novel candidate genomic regions containing lethal alleles and genes with functional and biological ...
Routes of Introduction of Anopheles gambiae Into Remote Islands in the Indian Ocean
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Population genetics/dynamics, Risk and safetyR. E. Ditter, M. Campos, M. W. Crepeau, J. Pinto, A. Toilibou, Y. Amina, Y. Lee, A. J. Cornel and G. C. Lanzaro, 2023.
The malaria vector Anopheles gambiae s.s., is a primary malaria vector throughout sub-Saharan Africa including the islands of the Comoros archipelago (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mayotte and Mohéli). These islands are located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in eastern ...
Threshold dynamics of a stochastic mathematical model for Wolbachia infections
Tags: Modeling, Population modification/replacement, Population suppression, WolbachiaJ. Yang, Z. Chen, Y. Tan, Z. Liu and R. A. Cheke, Journal of Biological Dynamics, 17:2231967. 2023.
A stochastic mathematical model is proposed to study how environmental heterogeneity and the augmentation of mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria affect the outcomes of dengue disease. The existence and uniqueness of the positive solutions of the system are studied. Then the ...
The Effect of X-ray Irradiation on the Fitness and Field Adaptability of the Codling Moth: An Orchard Study in Northeast China
Tags: Sterile insect technique (SIT)J. Zhang, S. Huang, S. Zhao, X. Wang, X. Yang, H. Zhao, P. Gao, Y. Li and X. Yang, Insects, 14. 2023.
The codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), is an invasive agricultural pest of pome fruits and walnuts in China that threatens the apple industry in the Loess Plateau and Bohai Bay; it has developed resistance to many insecticides. Sterile insect technique (SIT) combined with ...
The evolutionary history of Drosophila simulans Y chromosomes reveals molecular signatures of resistance to sex ratio meiotic drive
Tags: Fruit fly, Sex distorter, Transmission distortionC. Courret, D. Ogereau, C. Gilbert, A. M. Larracuente and C. Montchamp-Moreau, Mol Biol Evol, 2023.
The recent evolutionary history of the Y chromosome in Drosophila simulans, a worldwide species of Afrotropical origin, is closely linked to that of X-linked meiotic drivers (Paris system). The spread of the Paris drivers in natural populations has elicited the selection of drive ...
Meiotic drive of noncentromeric loci in mammalian meiosis II eggs
Tags: Rodents, Sex distorter, Transmission distortionD. M. Silva and T. Akera, Curr Opin Genet Dev, 81:102082. 2023.
The germline produces haploid gametes through a specialized cell division called meiosis. In general, homologous chromosomes from each parent segregate randomly to the daughter cells during meiosis, providing parental alleles with an equal chance of transmission. Meiotic drivers ...
Steering and controlling evolution — from bioengineering to fighting pathogens
Tags: Evolution, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Synthetic biologyM. Lässig, V. Mustonen and A. Nourmohammad, Nature Reviews Genetics, 2023.
Control interventions steer the evolution of molecules, viruses, microorganisms or other cells towards a desired outcome. Applications range from engineering biomolecules and synthetic organisms to drug, therapy and vaccine design against pathogens and cancer. In all these ...
Novel Conservation Strategies to Conserve Australian Marsupials
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, OceaniaS. Legge, M. Hayward and A. Weeks, American and Australasian Marsupials, 2023.
The Australian marsupial fauna has been devastated in the past 250 years, mainly due to impacts from invasive mammalian predators (cats and foxes), although other threats such as invasive herbivores, habitat loss and fragmentation, changes to fire regimes, and now climate change ...
Wolbachia -mediated resistance to Zika virus infection in Aedes aegypti is dominated by diverse transcriptional regulation and weak evolutionary pressures
Tags: Aedes, Arbovirus, Dengue, WolbachiaE. C. Boehm, A. S. Jaeger, H. J. Ries, D. Castañeda, A. M. Weiler, C. C. Valencia, J. Weger-Lucarelli, G. D. Ebel, S. L. O'Connor, T. C. Friedrich, M. Zamanian and M. T. Aliota, bioRxiv, 2023.
A promising candidate for arbovirus control and prevention relies on replacing arbovirus-susceptible Aedes aegypti populations with mosquitoes that have been colonized by the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia and thus have a reduced capacity to transmit arboviruses. This reduced ...
Impacts of sex ratio meiotic drive on genome structure and function in a stalk-eyed fly
Tags: Other arthropods, Selfish genetic elements, Sex distorter, Transmission distortionJ. A. Reinhardt, R. H. Baker, A. V. Zimin, C. Ladias, K. A. Paczolt, J. H. Werren, C. Y. Hayashi and G. S. Wilkinson, Genome Biology Evolution, 2023.
Stalk-eyed flies in the genus Teleopsis carry selfish genetic elements that induce sex ratio meiotic drive (SR) and impact the fitness of male and female carriers. Here, we assemble and describe a chromosome-level genome assembly of the stalk-eyed fly, Teleopsis dalmanni, to ...
MGSurvE: A framework to optimize trap placement for genetic surveillance of mosquito population
Tags: Dengue, Field trials, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Modeling, Population modification/replacement, Population suppressionC. H. Sánchez, D. L. Smith and J. M. Marshall, bioRxiv, 2023.
Genetic surveillance of mosquito populations is becoming increasingly relevant as genetics-based mosquito control strategies advance from laboratory to field testing. Especially applicable are mosquito gene drive projects, the potential scale of which leads monitoring to be a ...
Do sex-linked male meiotic drivers contribute to intrinsic hybrid incompatibilities? Recent empirical studies from flies and rodents
Tags: Transmission distortionJ. Kitano and K. Yoshida, Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 81:102068. 2023.
Intrinsic hybrid incompatibility is one of the important isolating barriers between species. In organisms with sex chromosomes, intrinsic hybrid incompatibility often follows two rules: Haldane’s rule and large-X effects. One explanation for these two rules is that sex ...
Developing methods for chilling, compacting, and sterilizing adult Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) and comparing mating competitiveness between males sterilized as adults versus pupae for sterile male release
Tags: Aedes, Sterile insect technique (SIT)D. A. Tussey, R. Morreale, D. O. Carvalho, S. Stenhouse, A. M. Lloyd, D. F. Hoel and D. A. Hahn, Journal of Medical Entomology, 2023.
The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti L., can transmit several pathogens responsible for human diseases. With insecticide resistance development becoming a concern, alternative control strategies are needed for Ae. aegypti. Sterile insect technique (SIT) is an increasingly ...
Regulatory logic of endogenous RNAi in silencing de novo genomic conflicts
Tags: Fruit fly, Transmission distortionJ. Vedanayagam, C. J. Lin, R. Papareddy, M. Nodine, A. S. Flynt, J. Wen and E. C. Lai, PLOS Genetics, 19:e1010787. 2023.
Although the biological utilities of endogenous RNAi (endo-RNAi) have been largely elusive, recent studies reveal its critical role in the non-model fruitfly Drosophila simulans to suppress selfish genes, whose unchecked activities can severely impair spermatogenesis. In ...
Effects of radiation on the fitness, sterility and arbovirus susceptibility of a Wolbachia-free Aedes albopictus strain for use in the Sterile Insect Technique
Tags: Aedes, Sterile insect technique (SIT), WolbachiaD. J. Zhang, S. Yan, H. Yamada, Y. Wu, G. Wang, Q. D. Feng, D. Paerhande, H. Maiga, J. Bouyer, J. Qian, Z. D. Wu and X. Y. Zheng, Pest Management Science, 2023.
BACKGROUND: The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a green and species-specific insect pest control technique that suppresses target populations by releasing factory-reared, radio-sterilized males into the wild. Once released, it is important to be able to distinguish the released ...
CRISPR-based gene drives generate super-Mendelian inheritance in the disease vector Culex quinquefasciatus
Tags: CRISPR, Culex, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Replicator/site directed nuclease, ResistanceT. Harvey-Samuel, X. Feng, E. M. Okamoto, D.-K. Purusothaman, P. T. Leftwich, L. Alphey and V. M. Gantz, bioRxiv, 2023.06.12.544656. 2023.
Culex mosquitoes pose a significant public health threat as vectors for a variety of diseases including West Nile virus and lymphatic filariasis, and transmit pathogens threatening livestock, companion animals, and endangered birds. Rampant insecticide resistance makes ...
CRISPR/Cas9-based split homing gene drive targeting doublesex for population suppression of the global fruit pest Drosophila suzukii
Tags: CRISPR, Fruit fly, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Replicator/site directed nuclease, Self limitingA. K. Yadav, C. Butler, A. Yamamoto, A. A. Patil, A. L. Lloyd and M. J. Scott, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 120:e2301525120. 2023.
Genetic-based methods offer environmentally friendly species-specific approaches for control of insect pests. One method, CRISPR homing gene drive that target genes essential for development, could provide very efficient and cost-effective control. While significant progress has ...
Sequence and expression analysis of the spermatogenesis-specific gene cognates, wampa and Prosα6T, in Drosophila suzukii
Tags: Sterile insect technique (SIT)Q. Xia, K. Tariq, D. A. Hahn and A. M. Handler, Genetica, 2023.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a highly effective biologically-based method for the population suppression of highly invasive insect pests of medical and agricultural importance. The efficacy of SIT could be significantly enhanced, however, by improved methods of male ...
The attitudes of young adults towards mammalian predator control and Predator Free 2050 in Aotearoa New Zealand
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Invasive species, Oceania, Stakeholder engagementL. Dickie and F. Medvecky, Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 2023.
Predator Free 2050 (PF2050) is an ambitious goal that aims to remove three types of invasive mammals from New Zealand by 2050. It will require a significant amount of funding, research, and support. Young adults will have an important role to play for this programme to be ...
Modeling emergence of Wolbachia toxin-antidote protein functions with an evolutionary algorithm
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Modeling, Toxin-antidote, WolbachiaJ. Beckmann, J. Gillespie and D. Tauritz, Front Microbiol, 14:1116766. 2023.
Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) simulate Darwinian evolution and adeptly mimic natural evolution. Most EA applications in biology encode high levels of abstraction in top-down population ecology models. In contrast, our research merges protein alignment algorithms from ...

Contact Us
Alex Sullivan
Foundation for the
National Institutes of Health
geneconvenevi@fnih.org
