Keywords: Ecology

Maximising Eradication Potential of Rat Gene Drives Using a Two-Target Homing Rescue Strategy: Spatial Modelling of Empirical Data

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Birand, A., Gierus, L., Prowse, T., Cassey, P., Thomas, P.Q.,  Molecular Ecology,  2025.
Gene drives are genetic elements with positively biased transmission and may be useful tools to suppress mammalian pests that threaten biodiversity worldwide. While gene drives are progressing in mice, less is known about their potential for invasive rat control. A recent report ...

Applications and status of gene drive in plants

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Hay BA,  PLOS Biology,  23. 2025.
Globalization—the movement of humans, plants, animals, and microbes—together with climate change, place numerous plant and animal species under novel stresses. For plants, threats include global warming, invasive species, weeds, animal pests, and vectors of disease. Harms can ...

Experts: One Health approach to help combat zoonotic diseases in Africa

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Milliam Murigi,  People Daily,  2025.
If African countries are to successfully combat zoonotic diseases, human health, animal health, and environmental health must be treated as one interconnected system. This was revealed in Accra, Ghana, during the second global congress on new and emerging genetic biocontrol ...

Wolbachia-based mosquito control: Environmental perspectives on population suppression and replacement strategies

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Bhattacharyya, J., Roelke, D.L.,  Acta Tropica,  262. 2025.
Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant threat to global health, and traditional mosquito control methods often fall short of effectiveness. A promising alternative is the biological control strategy of transinfecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium capable of ...

Progress made for blackchin tilapia control in Thailand

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The Fish Site,  2025.
Despite tilapia being one of the most widely farmed fish in the global aquaculture industry, invasive populations of the blackchin tilapia - a cichlid native to West Africa - have been devastating the productivity of aquaculture operations throughout Thailand. However, a ...

Wolbachia-Based Approaches to Controlling Mosquito-Borne Viral Threats: Innovations, AI Integration, and Future Directions in the Context of Climate Change

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Branda, F., Cella, E., Scarpa, F., et al.,  Viruses,  16:1868. 2025.
Wolbachia-based mosquito control strategies have gained significant attention as a sustainable approach to reduce the transmission of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. These endosymbiotic bacteria can limit the ability of mosquitoes to transmit ...

Wolbachia-based mosquito control: Environmental perspectives on population suppression and replacement strategies

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Joydeb Bhattacharyya, Daniel L. Roelke,  Acta Tropica,  262. 2025.
Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant threat to global health, and traditional mosquito control methods often fall short of effectiveness. A promising alternative is the biological control strategy of transinfecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium capable of ...

Pest control gets the CRISPR treatment

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Seydel, C.,  Nature Biotechnology,  2024.
In June 2024, the St. Louis–based pest control company Agragene released genetically modified fruit flies on berry farms in California and Oregon, moving the technology out of the laboratory and into contained field testing. The trial marked a milestone for a next-generation ...

Parental-effect gene-drive elements under partial selfing, or why do Caenorhabditis genomes have hyperdivergent regions?

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Matthew V Rockman,  Genetics,  2024.
Self-fertile Caenorhabditis nematodes carry a surprising number of Medea elements, alleles that act in heterozygous mothers and cause death or developmental delay in offspring that don’t inherit them. At some loci, both alleles in a cross operate as independent Medeas, ...

Wolbachia-based emerging strategies for control of vector-transmitted disease

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Diego Montenegro, Gerardo Cortés-Cortés, María Guadalupe Balbuena-Alonso, et al.,  Acta Tropica,  260. 2024.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-transmitted disease of great public health importance. Dengue lacks adequate vaccine protection and insecticide-based methods of mosquito control are proving increasingly ineffective. Here we review the emerging use of mosquitoes transinfected with the ...

Why are gene drive technologies being considered to help restore biodiversity on islands?

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Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2024.
Researchers have been studying how to harness gene drives to solve some of society’s most intractable problems for a long time. Public health and ecosystem conservation are two of the main areas where research has focused, although other uses are also possible.

Identification of novel genes responsible for a pollen killer present in local natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana

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Anthony Ricou, Matthieu Simon, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2024.
Certain genetic elements are qualified as selfish because they favor their transmission to the progeny during reproduction to the detriment of gametes that do not carry them. These elements are widespread in fungi as well as in plants or in animals, and they are made up of two or ...

Understanding gene flow and its implications for gene drive research

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Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research,  2024.
Gene flow is the transfer of genetic information from one population to another. Also known as gene transfer or gene migration, it plays a crucial role in the evolution and adaptation of species. Understanding the dynamics of gene flow is essential to assess the potential risks ...

Is Kenya ready to turn to technology to finally defeat malaria?­­

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Brygettes Ngana,  Nation,  2024.
For decades, researchers have  tested and refined dozens of methods to combat malaria,  striving to outmaneuver  the resilient mosquito.  From deploying bed nets to developing indoor residual spraying, these strategies have formed the frontline defense against this persistent ...

New genetic-editing technique to alter the traits and fates of wild populations

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Lori Dajose,  CalTech,  2024.
Gene drives are a common technology used to insert a novel gene into a population—for example, to make mosquitos resistant to malaria. They can also be used to modify existing genes, such as making herbicide-resistant weeds susceptible to herbicides once again or even to ...

Wolbachia still works when it is warm

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McKay, A.,  Nature Ecology and Evolution,  8. 2024.
Wolbachia is a maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacterium that can impede the transmission of viruses such as dengue and Zika by some mosquito vectors to humans. Over the past decade, this self-sustaining disease-control method has been rolled out in cities of increasing size; ...

Gene Drive Technology Unlocks Innovative Potential Solutions At The Intersection Of Climate Change And Public Health

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Krystal Birungi,  African Media Agency,  2023.
The inaugural ‘Day of Health’ at the UN Climate Conference (COP-28) highlighted the dramatic impact of climate change on health, diseases and in particular on malaria. Heads of State and climate experts converged in Dubai to emphasise the indisputable link between climate ...

Incorporating ecology into gene drive modelling

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J. Kim, K. D. Harris, I. K. Kim, S. Shemesh, P. W. Messer and G. Greenbaum,  Ecology Letters,  26:S62-S80. 2023.
Abstract Gene drive technology, in which fast-spreading engineered drive alleles are introduced into wild populations, represents a promising new tool in the fight against vector-borne diseases, agricultural pests and invasive species. Due to the risks involved, gene drives have ...

Optimizing the delivery of self-disseminating vaccines in fluctuating wildlife populations

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C. Schreiner, A. Basinski, C. Remien and S. Nuismer,  PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases,  17:e0011018. 2023.
Author summary Pathogens such as Ebola, rabies, and Lassa virus that usually infect wildlife can jump to the human population. In the worst case, this can lead to outbreaks or pandemics such as happened in 2014 with Ebola and 2019 with SARS-CoV-2. One approach to mitigate the ...

A framework for identifying fertility gene targets for mammalian pest control

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C. C. Anna, A. Alana, E. Rey, E. Kevin, K. Sebastian, D. Ludovic, C. Jackson, E. C. Samuel, W. M. Philipp and J. G. Neil,  bioRxiv,  2023.05.30.542751. 2023.
Fertility-targeted gene drives have been proposed as an ethical genetic approach for managing wild populations of vertebrate pests for public health and conservation benefit. This manuscript introduces a framework to identify and evaluate target gene suitability based on ...

Leveraging eco-evolutionary models for gene drive risk assessment

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M. A. Combs, A. J. Golnar, J. M. Overcash, A. L. Lloyd, K. R. Hayes, D. A. O’Brochta and K. M. Pepin,  Trends in Genetics,  2023.
As development of gene drive systems accelerates and diversifies, predicting outcomes for target populations and the potential for human and environmental risks requires accounting for numerous eco-evolutionary processes.Gene drive dynamic models quantify the influence of ...

Convention on Biological Diversity Process

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GeneConvene Global Collaborative,  2023.
The image describes organizational elements and hierarchy within the United Nations system to situate the activities undertaken for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, effective Dec 1993) and its supplementary treaty the Cartagena Protocol on ...

What are gene drivers and why do 300,000 people want them banned?

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Anika,  Social Bites,  2022.
Ecologists in Action and Madrid Agroecologico submitted 300,000 citizen signatures to the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, asking Minister Teresa Ribera to give Spain a boost. International moratorium on technology for the release of organisms modified ...

Investigating CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive for production of disease-preventing prion gene alleles

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A. R. Castle, S. Wohlgemuth, L. Arce and D. Westaway,  PLoS One,  17:e0269342. 2022.
Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders that includes chronic wasting disease, which affects cervids and is highly transmissible. Given that chronic wasting disease prevalence exceeds 30% in some endemic areas of North America, and that eventual ...

Could species-focused suppression of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, and Aedes albopictus, the tiger mosquito, affect interacting predators? An evidence synthesis from the literature

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J. A. S. Bonds, C. M. Collins and L.-C. Gouagna,  Pest Management Science,  2022.
The risks of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus nuisance and vector-borne diseases are rising and the adverse effects of broad-spectrum insecticide application has promoted species-specific techniques, such as sterile insect technique (SIT) and other genetic strategies, as ...

Selfish migrants: How a meiotic driver is selected to increase dispersal

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J. N. Runge, H. Kokko and A. K. Lindholm,  J Evol Biol,  2022.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that manipulate meiosis to increase their transmission to the next generation to the detriment of the rest of the genome. One example is the t haplotype in house mice, which is a naturally occurring meiotic driver with deleterious ...

Adult mosquito predation and potential impact on the sterile insect technique

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N. S. Bimbilé Somda, H. Maïga, W. Mamai, T. Bakhoum, T. Wallner, S. B. Poda, H. Yamada and J. Bouyer,  Scientific Reports,  12:2561. 2022.
The sterile insect technique is a promising environmentally friendly method for mosquito control. This technique involves releasing laboratory-produced sterile males into a target field site, and its effectiveness may be affected by the extent of adult mosquito predation. Sterile ...

Gene drives in malaria control: what we need to know

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R. Mudziwapasi, M. C. Changara, A. Ndudzo, T. Kaseke, F. Godobo, F. L. Mtemeli, R. Shoko, F. Songwe, S. Ndlovu and S. Sandra Mlambo,  Biotechnology and Biotechnological Equipment,  35:1623-1631. 2021.
Gene drives are being used to enhance a DNA sequence?s likelihood of passing between generations via sexual reproduction. Gene drives can be deployed to manipulate natural populations. They can be used to suppress populations by reducing the number of individuals in a population ...

Ecological vulnerability analysis for suppression of Drosophila suzukii by gene drives

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C. R. Lalyer, L. Sigsgaard and B. Giese,  Global Ecology and Conservation,  32:e01883. 2021.
Synthetic gene drives are transgenic constructs that aim to bias heredity and thereby influence the characteristics and fate of populations regarding abundance and evolution. Aside from irreversible effects in ecosystems that could be triggered by the release of a gene drive, ...

Genetically Modifying Bats Could Prevent the Next Pandemic, Scientists Say

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G. Dutton,  BioSpace,  2021.
The next COVID pandemic could be prevented by using a gene drive to preemptively edit the genome of bats to prevent them from becoming hosts for coronaviruses, according to a proposal by scientists from Israel’s Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzelia and the National ...

Fine-scale estimation of key life-history parameters of malaria vectors: implications for next-generation vector control technologies

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A. L. Morris, A. Ghani and N. Ferguson,  Parasites and Vectors,  14:311. 2021.
Mosquito control has the potential to significantly reduce malaria burden on a region, but to influence public health policy must also show cost-effectiveness. Gaps in our knowledge of mosquito population dynamics mean that mathematical modelling of vector control interventions ...

GeneConvene Global Collaborative Webinar Series | Ecological Relationships of Mosquito Disease Vectors: Anticipating Risk Assessment of Gene Drive Technologies

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Stephanie James, Hector Quemada and David O'Brochta,  GeneConvene Global Collaborative,  2021.
An often-raised concern for the development of genetically modified mosquito technologies, particularly those involving gene drive, as tools to prevent disease transmission is the limitation of our understanding of the roles these species may play within the ecosystem. This ...

Ecological Relationships of Mosquito Disease Vectors: Anticipating Risk Assessment of Gene Drive Technologies

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Stephanie James, Hector Quemada and David O'Brochta,  GeneConvene Global Collaborative,  2021.
An often-raised concern for the development of genetically modified mosquito technologies, particularly those involving gene drive, as tools to prevent disease transmission is the limitation of our understanding of the roles these species may play within the ecosystem. This ...

Should we dim the sun? Will we even have a choice

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E. Klein,  New York Times,  2021.
“Under a White Sky” is going to be on my best books of 2021 list. It’s a wonderful work. Kolbert is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Sixth Extinction,” which you may have read. She is a staff writer at The New Yorker and just one of the great science ...

Suppression gene drive in continuous space can result in unstable persistence of both drive and wild-type alleles

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J. Champer, I. K. Kim, S. E. Champer, A. G. Clark and P. W. Messer,  Mol Ecol,  2021.
Using spatially explicit simulations, we show that the release of a suppression drive can result in what we term "chasing" dynamics, in which wild-type individuals recolonize areas where the drive locally eliminated the population. Despite the drive subsequently reconquering ...

Mosquito Sexual Selection and Reproductive Control Programs

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L. J. Cator, C. A. S. Wyer and L. C. Harrington,  Trends in Parasitology,  2021.
Recent work has generated many key insights about specific aspects of mating behavior and physiology. Here, we synthesize these findings and classify swarming mosquito systems as polygynous. Male mating success is highly variable in swarms and evidence suggests that it is likely ...

Polyandry blocks gene drive in a wild house mouse population

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A. Manser, B. Konig and A. K. Lindholm,  Nature Communications,  11:8. 2020.
Here, we study the impact of polyandry on a well-known gene drive, called t haplotype, in an intensively monitored population of wild house mice. First, we show that house mice are highly polyandrous: 47% of 682 litters were sired by more than one male. Second, we find that ...

Invasive Species Control and Resolution of Wildlife Damage Conflicts: A Framework for Chemical and Genetically Based Management Methods

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L. Clark, J. Eisemann, J. Godwin, K. E. Horak, K. Oh, J. O’Hare, A. Piaggio, K. Pepin and E. Ruell,  GMOs: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Processes,  2020.
Vertebrate wildlife damage management relates to developing and employing methods to mitigate against damage caused by wildlife in the areas of food production, property damage, and animal or human health and safety. Of the many management tools available

GMOs: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Processes

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Chaurasia, Anurag , Hawksworth, David L., Pessoa de Miranda, Manoela.,  GMOs: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Processes,  2020.
This book covers a broad spectrum of topics related to GMOs and allied new gene-based technologies, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes, bringing together the contributions of researchers and regulators from around the world. The aim is to offer a clear view of the benefits and ...

Modeling CRISPR gene drives for suppression of invasive rodents

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S. E. Champer, N. Oakes, R. Sharma, P. García-Díaz, J. Champer and P. W. Messer,  bioRxiv,  2020.11.05.369942. 2020.
Here, we develop a high-fidelity model of an island population of invasive rodents that includes three types of suppression gene drive systems. The individual-based model is spatially explicit and allows for overlapping generations and a fluctuating population size. Our model ...

MGDrivE 2: A simulation framework for gene drive systems incorporating seasonality and epidemiological dynamics

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S. L. Wu, J. B. Bennett, H. M. Sanchez C, A. J. Dolgert, T. M. Leon and J. M. Marshall,  bioRxiv,  2020.10.16.343376. 2020.
We present MGDrivE 2 (Mosquito Gene Drive Explorer 2): an extension of and development from the MGDrivE 1 simulation framework that investigates the population dynamics of a variety of gene drive architectures and their spread through spatially-explicit mosquito populations.

Gene Drive Dynamics in Natural Populations: The Importance of Density Dependence, Space, and Sex

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S. Dhole, A. L. Lloyd and F. Gould,  Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics,  51:505-531. 2020.
The spread of synthetic gene drives is often discussed in the context of panmictic populations connected by gene flow and described with simple deterministic models. Under such assumptions, an entire species could be altered by releasing a single individual carrying an invasive ...

Conservation implications of disease control

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J. C. Buck, S. B. Weinstein, G. Titcomb and H. S. Young,  Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,  6. 2020.
Infectious diseases have indelibly altered human history and, in doing so, have shaped the ecology and conservation of the natural world. Attempts to control diseases often result in adverse environmental impacts, including habitat degradation and unintended outcomes such as ...

Public Opinion Towards Gene Drive as a Pest Control Approach for Biodiversity Conservation and the Association of Underlying Worldviews

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E. A. MacDonald, J. Balanovic, E. D. Edwards, W. Abrahamse, B. Frame, A. Greenaway, R. Kannemeyer, N. Kirk, F. Medvecky, T. L. Milfont, J. C. Russell and D. M. Tompkins,  Environmental Communication-a Journal of Nature and Culture,  15:1-16. 2020.
Synthetic gene drive approaches are nascent technologies with potential applicability for pest control for conservation purposes. Responsible science mandates that society be engaged in a dialogue over new technology, particularly where there exist global ramifications as with ...

Gene Drive Film

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Save Our Seeds,  2020.
This is a video based on the findings in GENE DRIVES: A report on their science, applications, social aspects, ethics and regulations which you can find here.  There was a Symposium on May 24, 2019 that covers the topics in the report and the presentations at that symposium can ...

Threshold-Dependent Gene Drives in Wild Populations – A Podcast

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G. A. Backus and J. A. Delborne,  BioScience Talks,  2019.
By altering the heritability of certain traits, gene drive technologies have the potential to spread desired genes through wild populations. In practice, this could lead to mosquito populations that, for example, bear traits making them resistant to the spread of malaria. Despite ...

Genetically engineered mosquitoes out of control

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GM Watch,  GM Watch,  2019.
According to a new scientific publication, genetically engineered mosquitoes produced by the biotech company Oxitec (Intrexon) have escaped human control after trials in Brazil. They are now spreading in the environment. The yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) are genetically ...

Twenty-five Years of Research Experience with the Sterile Insect Technique and Area-Wide Management of Codling Moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), in Canada

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H. M. A. Thistlewood and G. J. R. Judd,  Insects,  10:292. 2019.
The advent of novel genetic methods has led to renewed interest in the sterile insect technique (SIT) for management of insect pests, owing to applications in mass rearing and in the production of sterile offspring without use of irradiation. An area-wide management programme for ...

A 2017 horizon scan of emerging issues for global conservation and biological diversity

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Sutherland, WJB, P.; Broad, S.; Clout, M.; Connor, B.; Cote, I. M.; Dicks, L. V.; Doran, H.; Entwistle, A. C.; Fleishman, E.; Fox, M.; Gaston, K. J.; Gibbons, D. W.; Jiang, Z.; Keim, B.; Lickorish, F. A.; Markillie, P.; Monk, K. A.; Pearce-Higgins, J. W.; Peck, L. S.; Pretty, J.; Spalding, M. D.; Tonneijck, F. H.; Wintle, B. C.; Ockendon, N.,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  32:31-40. 2019.
We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the ...

Herbicide resistant weeds: A call to integrate conventional agricultural practices, molecular biology knowledge and new technologies

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V. E. Perotti, A. S. Larran, V. E. Palmieri, A. K. Martinatto and H. R. Permingeat,  Plant Science,  290:110255. 2019.
Herbicide resistant (HR) weeds are of major concern in modern agriculture. This situation is exacerbated by the massive adoption of herbicide-based technologies along with the overuse of a few active ingredients to control weeds over vast areas year after year. Also, many other ...

A natural gene drive system influences bovine tuberculosis susceptibility in African buffalo: Possible implications for disease management

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P. van Hooft, W. M. Getz, B. J. Greyling and A. D. S. Bastos,  PLoS One,  14:e0221168. 2019.
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is endemic to the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) and Kruger National Park, South Africa. In HiP, the disease has been actively managed since 1999 through a test-and-cull procedure targeting BTB-positive buffalo. Prior ...

Interpopulation spread of a parasitic B chromosome is unlikely through males in the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans

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M. I. Manrique-Poyato, J. Cabrero, M. D. López-León, F. Perfectti, R. Gómez and J. P. M. Camacho,  Heredity,  124:197-206. 2019.
The near-neutral model of B chromosome evolution predicts that population invasion is quite fast. To test this prediction, in 1994, we introduced males of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans from a B-carrying population into a B-lacking population and monitored the evolution of ...

Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler e.V. | Gene Drive Symposium-Critical Science Switzerland

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Critical Scientists Switzerland; European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility; Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler,  2019.

Gene Drives: A report on their science, applications, social aspects, ethics and regulations

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H. Dressel,  Critical Scientists Switzerland; European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility; Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler,  2019.
Engineered Gene Drives are a new form of genetic modification that provides the tools for permanently modifying or potentially even eradicating species or populations in the wild. Unlike the previous genetically modified organisms (GMOs), gene drive organisms (GDOs) are not meant ...

Gene-drive-mediated extinction is thwarted by population structure and evolution of sib mating

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J. J. Bull, C. H. Remien and S. M. Krone,  Evolution Medicine and Public Health,  2019:66-81. 2019.
Genetic engineering combined with CRISPR technology has developed to the point that gene drives can, in theory, be engineered to cause extinction in countless species. Success of extinction programs now rests on the possibility of resistance evolution, which is largely unknown. ...

When Policy Meets Practice: The Dilemma for Guidance on Risk Assessment Under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

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Karen E Hokanson,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  7. 2019.

Transmission ratio distortion is frequent in Arabidopsis thaliana controlled crosses

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Seymour, DKC, E.; Arioz, B. I.; Koenig, D.; Weigel, D.,  Heredity,  122:294-304. 2019.
The equal probability of transmission of alleles from either parent during sexual reproduction is a central tenet of genetics and evolutionary biology. Yet, there are many cases where this rule is violated. The preferential transmission of alleles or genotypes is termed ...

Male competition and the evolution of mating and ire-history traits in experimental populations of Aedes aegypti

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Qureshi, AA, A.; Hollis, B.; Ponlawat, A.; Cator, L. J.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  286:20190591. 2019.
Aedes aegypti is an important disease vector and a major target of reproductive control efforts. We manipulated the opportunity for sexual selection in populations of Ae. aegypti by controlling the number of males competing for a single female. Populations exposed to higher ...

Predicting the spatial dynamics of Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti arbovirus vector populations in heterogeneous landscapes

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Hancock, PAR, S. A.; Koenraadt, C. J. M.; Scott, T. W.; Hoffmann, A. A.; Godfray, H. C. J.,  Journal of Applied Ecology,  56:1674-1686. 2019.
A promising strategy for reducing the transmission of dengue and other arboviral human diseases by Aedes aegypti mosquito vector populations involves field introductions of the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. Wolbachia infections inhibit viral transmission by the mosquito, and ...

Population genetics of Anopheles funestus, the African malaria vector, Kenya

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Ogola, EOO, J. O.; Mwangangi, J. M.; Masiga, D. K.; Tchouassi, D. P.,  Parasites & Vectors,  12:15. 2019.
Anopheles funestus is among the major malaria vectors in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa and has been recently implicated in persistent malaria transmission. However, its ecology and genetic diversity remain poorly understood in Kenya.MethodsUsing 16 microsatellite loci, we examined ...

Spatial structure undermines parasite suppression by gene drive cargo

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Bull, JJR, Christopher H.; Gomulkiewicz, Richard; Krone, Stephen M.,  PeerJ,  7:e7921. 2019.
Gene drives may be used in two ways to curtail vectored diseases. Both involve engineering the drive to spread in the vector population. One approach uses the drive to directly depress vector numbers, possibly to extinction. The other approach leaves intact the vector population ...

Modelling the potential of genetic control of malaria mosquitoes at national scale

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North, ARB, Austin; Godfray, H. Charles J.,  BMC Biology,  17:26. 2019.
The persistence of malaria in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa has motivated the development of novel tools to complement existing control programmes, including gene-drive technologies to modify mosquito vector populations. Here, we use a stochastic simulation model to explore ...

Stakeholder attitudes towards the use of recombinant technology to manage the impact of an invasive species: Sea Lamprey in the North American Great Lakes

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Thresher, REJ, M.; Drake, D. A. R.,  Biological Invasions,  21:575-586. 2019.
Several factors, including: (1) on-going difficulties of cost-effectively managing invasive species; (2) recent successes in using recombinant genetics to suppress mosquito populations; and, (3) developments in gene-drive technology, have re-invigorated interest in using genetic ...

Large-cage assessment of a transgenic sex-ratio distortion strain on populations of an African malaria vector

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Facchinelli, LN, A.; Collins, C.; Menichelli, M.; Persampieri, T.; Bucci, A.; Spaccapelo, R.; Crisanti, A.; Benedict, M.,  Parasites & Vectors,  12:70. 2019.
Novel transgenic mosquito control methods require progressively more realistic evaluation. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of a transgene that causes a male-bias sex ratio on Anopheles gambiae target populations in large insectary cages. Life history ...

Making a murderer: The evolutionary framing of hybrid gamete-killers

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Sweigart, ALB, Yaniv; Fishman, Lila,  Trends in Genetics,  35:245-252. 2019.
Recent molecular investigations of hybrid incompatibilities have revealed fascinating patterns of genetic interactions that have been interpreted as the remnants of a history of selfish evolution. Instead of framing hybrid incompatibilities in light of genetic conflict, we ...

Controlling invasive rodents via synthetic gene drive and the role of polyandry

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Manser, AC, S. J.; Sutter, A.; Blondel, D. V.; Serr, M.; Godwin, J.; Price, T. A. R.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  286:9. 2019.
House mice are a major ecosystem pest, particularly threatening island ecosystems as a non-native invasive species. Rapid advances in synthetic biology offer new avenues to control pest species for biodiversity conservation. Recently, a synthetic sperm-killing gene drive ...

Alternative strategies for mosquito-borne arbovirus control

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Achee, NLG, J. P.; Vatandoost, H.; Seixas, G.; Pinto, J.; Ching-Ng, L.; Martins, A. J.; Juntarajumnong, W.; Corbel, V.; Gouagna, C.; David, J. P.; Logan, J. G.; Orsborne, J.; Marois, E.; Devine, G. J.; Vontas, J.,  PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases,  13:e0006822. 2019.
Mosquito-borne virusessuch as Zika, chikungunya, dengue fever, and yellow fever, among othersare of global importance. Although vaccine development for prevention of mosquito-borne arbovirus infections has been a focus, mitigation strategies continue to rely on vector control. ...

Evaluating the Probability of CRISPR-based Gene Drive Contaminating Another Species

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Courtier-Orgogozo, VD, Antoine; Gouyon, Pierre-Henri; Boëte, Christophe,  bioRxiv,  776609:27. 2019.
The probability D that a given CRISPR-based gene drive element contaminates another, non-target species can be estimated by the following Drive Risk Assessment Quantitative Estimate (DRAQUE) Equation: D = (hyb+transf).express.cut.flank.immune.nonextinct withhyb = probability of ...

Forcing the Farm

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etc group,  etc group,  2018.
This report is being issued as an alert to governments, civil society organisations and grassroots movements. It points to how gene drives, while promoted as a tool for medicine and conservation, will find their real use in food and farming by agribusiness. It calls for a pause ...

Editing nature: Local roots of global governance

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Kofler, N.C., James P.; Kuzma, Jennifer; Marris, Emma; Esvelt, Kevin; Nelson, Michael Paul; Newhouse, Andrew; Rothschild, Lynn J.; Vigliotti, Vivian S.; Semenov, Misha; Jacobsen, Rowan; Dahlman, James E.; Prince, Shannon; Caccone, Adalgisa; Brown, Timothy,  Science,  2018.

The Convention on Biological Diversity as a legal framework for safeguarding ecosystem services

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Christian Prip,  Ecosystem Services,  29:199-204. 2018.

Population seasonality and release timing significantly affect the probability of establishment for small releases of gene drive mosquitoes

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Nikolov, MO, A. L.; Beaghton, A. K.; Beaghton, P. J.; Wenger, E. A.; Burt, A.; Welkhoff, P. A.,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  99:367-367. 2018.
Highly efficient CRISPR/Cas9 gene-drive systems have recently been developed, targeting reproductive-capacity and malaria-competency loci of malaria transmitting vector species, such as An. gambiae. The resulting drive systems aim to either suppress the local wild-type population ...

Engineered integrative and conjugative elements for efficient and inducible DNA transfer to undomesticated bacteria

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Brophy, JANT, Alexander J.; Adams, Bryn L.; Renberg, Rebecca L.; Stratis-Cullum, Dimitra N.; Grossman, Alan D.; Voigt, Christopher A.,  Nature Microbiology,  3:1043-1053. 2018.
Engineering microorganisms to promote human or plant health will require manipulation of robust bacteria that are capable of surviving in harsh, competitive environments. Genetic engineering of undomesticated bacteria can be limited by an inability to transfer DNA into the cell. ...

Evaluating active genetic options for the control of Sea Lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) in the Laurentian Great Lakes

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Thresher, REJ, Michael; Drake, D. Andrew,  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences,  76:1186-1202. 2018.
For more than two decades the Great Lakes Fishery Commission has sought tactics to complement, and potentially replace, the use of barriers and lampricides to control Sea Lamprey in the Great Lakes, but thus far without success. This paper examines the potential of modern genetic ...

Identifying and detecting potentially adverse ecological outcomes associated with the release of gene-drive modified organisms

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Hayes, KRH, G. R.; Dana, G. V.; Foster, S. D.; Ford, J. H.; Thresher, R.; Ickowicz, A.; Peel, D.; Tizard, M.; De Barro, P.; Strive, T.; Dambacher, J. M.,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S139-S158. 2018.
Synthetic gene drives could provide new solutions to a range of old problems such as controlling vector-borne diseases, agricultural pests and invasive species. In this paper, we outline methods to identify hazards and detect potentially adverse ecological outcomes at the ...

Simulating the effects of clumped egg laying on mosquito population dynamics in relation to gene-drive interventions

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Morris, ALF, N.; Ghani, A.,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  99:279-280. 2018.
Gene-drive based vector control methods are a rapidly developing tool in the fight against malaria. They utilise highly targeted insertions of genes to express specific traits, such as biases in offspring sex ratio or inhibited vector competence, which are preferentially ...

Identifying knowledge gaps for gene drive research to control invasive animal species: The next CRISPR step

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Moro, DB, Margaret; Kennedy, Malcolm; Campbell, Susan; Tizard, Mark,  Global Ecology and Conservation,  13:e00363. 2018.
Invasive animals have been linked to the extinctions of native wildlife, and to significant agricultural financial losses or impacts. Current approaches to control invasive species require ongoing resources and management over large geographic scales, and often result in the ...

Economic issues to consider for gene drives

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Mitchell, PDB, Z.; McRoberts, N.,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S180-S202. 2018.
We examine four economic issues regarding gene drive applications made possible by gene editing technologies. First, whether gene drives are self-sustaining or self-limiting will largely determine which types of organizations have incentives to develop and deploy gene drives and ...

To reduce the global burden of human schistosomiasis, use ‘old fashioned’ snail control

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Sokolow, SHW, Chelsea L.; Jones, Isabel J.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Kuris, Armand; Hsieh, Michael H.; De Leo, Giulio A.,  Trends in Parasitology,  34:23-40. 2018.
Control strategies to reduce human schistosomiasis have evolved from ‘snail picking’ campaigns, a century ago, to modern wide-scale human treatment campaigns, or preventive chemotherapy. Unfortunately, despite the rise in preventive chemotherapy campaigns, just as many people ...

Population dynamics of engineered underdominance and killer-rescue gene drives in the control of disease vectors

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Edgington, MPA, Luke S.,  PLOS Computational Biology,  14:e1006059. 2018.
Vector-borne diseases represent a severe burden to both human and animal health worldwide. The methods currently being used to control a range of these diseases do not appear sufficient to address the issues at hand. As such, alternate methods for the control of vector-borne ...

Carrying a selfish genetic element predicts increased migration propensity in free-living wild house mice

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Runge, J-NL, Anna K.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  285:20181333. 2018.
Life is built on cooperation between genes, which makes it vulnerable to parasitism. Selfish genetic elements that exploit this cooperation can achieve large fitness gains by increasing their transmission relative to the rest of the genome. This leads to counter-adaptations that ...

Invasion and migration of spatially self-limiting gene drives: A comparative analysis

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Dhole, S.; Vella, M. R; Lloyd, A. L.; Gould, F.,  Evolutionary Applications,  11:794-808. 2018.
Recent advances in research on gene drives have produced genetic constructs that could theoretically spread a desired gene (payload) into all populations of a species, with a single release in one place. This attribute has advantages, but also comes with risks and ethical ...

The use of driving endonuclease genes to suppress mosquito vectors of malaria in temporally variable environments

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Lambert, BN, Ace; Burt, Austin; Godfray, H. Charles J.,  Malaria Journal,  17:154. 2018.
The use of gene drive systems to manipulate populations of malaria vectors is currently being investigated as a method of malaria control. One potential system uses driving endonuclease genes (DEGs) to spread genes that impose a genetic load. Previously, models have shown that ...

Modelling Allee effects in a transgenic mosquito population during range expansion

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Walker, MB, Julie C.; Brown, Vicki; Childs, Lauren M.,  Journal of Biological Dynamics,  13:2-22. 2018.
Mosquitoes are vectors for many diseases that cause significant mortality and morbidity. As mosquito populations expand their range, they may undergo mate-finding Allee effects such that their ability to successfully reproduce becomes difficult at low population density. With new ...

Is it time for synthetic biodiversity conservation?

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Piaggio, AJS, G.; Seddon, P. J.; Alphey, L.; Bennett, E. L.; Carlson, R. H.; Friedman, R. M.; Kanavy, D.; Phelan, R.; Redford, K. H.; Rosales, M.; Slobodian, L.; Wheeler, K.,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  32:97-107. 2017.
Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential ...

Impact of mosquito gene drive on malaria elimination in a computational model with explicit spatial and temporal dynamics

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Eckhoff, PAW, E. A.; Godfray, H. C. J.; Burt, A.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  114:e255-e264. 2017.
The renewed effort to eliminate malaria and permanently remove its tremendous burden highlights questions of what combination of tools would be sufficient in various settings and what new tools need to be developed. Gene drive mosquitoes constitute a promising set of tools, with ...

Sperm competition suppresses gene drive among experimentally evolving populations of house mice

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Manser, AL, A. K.; Simmons, L. W.; Firman, R. C.,  Molecular Ecology,  26:5784-5792. 2017.
Drive genes are genetic elements that manipulate the 50% ratio of Mendelian inheritance in their own favour, allowing them to rapidly propagate through populations. The action of drive genes is often hidden, making detection and identification inherently difficult. Yet drive ...

Evolution of Resistance Against CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Drive

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Unckless, RLC, A. G.; Messer, P. W.,  Genetics,  205:827-841. 2017.
CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive (CGD) promises to be a highly adaptable approach for spreading genetically engineered alleles throughout a species, even if those alleles impair reproductive success. CGD has been shown to be effective in laboratory crosses of insects, yet it remains ...

Towards the genetic control of invasive species

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Harvey-Samuel, TA, T.; Alphey, L.,  Biological Invasions,  19:1683-1703. 2017.
Invasive species remain one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Their control would be enhanced through the development of more effective and sustainable pest management strategies. Recently, a novel form of genetic pest management (GPM) has been developed in which ...

The creation and selection of mutations resistant to a gene drive over multiple generations in the malaria mosquito

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Hammond, AMK, Kyros; Bruttini, Marco; North, Ace; Galizi, Roberto; Karlsson, Xenia; Kranjc, Nace; Carpi, Francesco M.; D’Aurizio, Romina; Crisanti, Andrea; Nolan, Tony,  PLOS Genetics,  13:e1007039. 2017.
Gene drives are selfish genetic elements that are able to bias their own inheritance among offspring. Starting from very low frequencies they can rapidly invade a population in just a few generations, even when imposing a fitness cost. Gene drives based on the precise DNA cutting ...

Comparative analysis of regions with distorted segregation in three diploid populations of potato

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Manrique-Carpintero, NCC, J. J.; Veilleux, R. E.; Buell, C. R.; Douches, D. S.,  G3-Genes Genomes Genetics,  6:2617-2628. 2016.
Genes associated with gametic and zygotic selection could underlie segregation distortion, observed as alterations of expected Mendelian genotypic frequencies in mapping populations. We studied highly dense genetic maps based on single nucleotide polymorphisms to elucidate the ...

Rapid evolution of a Y-chromosome heterochromatin protein underlies sex chromosome meiotic drive

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Helleu, QG, P. R.; Dubruille, R.; Ogereau, D.; Prud'homme, B.; Loppin, B.; Montchamp-Moreau, C.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  113:4110-4115. 2016.
Sex chromosome meiotic drive, the non-Mendelian transmission of sex chromosomes, is the expression of an intragenomic conflict that can have extreme evolutionary consequences. However, the molecular bases of such conflicts remain poorly understood. Here, we show that a young and ...

R2d2 drives selfish sweeps in the house mouse

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Didion, JPM, A. P.; Yadgary, L.; Bell, T. A.; McMullan, R. C.; de Solorzano, L. O.; Britton-Davidian, J.; Bult, C. J.; Campbell, K. J.; Castiglia, R.; Ching, Y. H.; Chunco, A. J.; Crowley, J. J.; Chesler, E. J.; Forster, D. W.; French, J. E.; Gabriel, S. I.; Gatti, D. M.; Garland, T.; Giagia-Athanasopoulou, E. B.; Gimenez, M. D.; Grize, S. A.; Gunduz, I.; Holmes, A.; Hauffe, H. C.; Herman, J. S.; Holt, J. M.; Hua, K. J.; Jolley, W. J.; Lindholm, A. K.; Lopez-Fuster, M. J.; Mitsainas, G.; Mathias, M. D.; McMillan, L.; Ramalhinho, M. D. M.; Rehermann, B.; Rosshart, S. P.; Searle, J. B.; Shiao, M. S.; Solano, E.; Svenson, K. L.; Thomas-Laemont, P.; Threadgill, D. W.; Ventura, J.; Weinstock, G. M.; Pomp, D.; Churchill, G. A.; de Villena, F. P. M.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  33:1381-1395. 2016.
A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries ...

National Academies of Science | Workshop: Science, Ethics, and Governance Considerations for Gene Drive Research – 2015

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National Academy of Sciences Engineering Medicine,  National Academy of Sciences,  2015.

Female house mice avoid fertilization by t haplotype incompatible males in a mate choice experiment

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Manser, AK, B.; Lindholm, A. K.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  28:54-64. 2015.
The t haplotype in house mice is a well-known selfish genetic element with detrimental, nonadditive fitness consequences to its carriers: recessive lethal mutations cause t/t homozygotes to perish in utero. Given the severe genetic incompatibility imposed by the t haplotype, we ...

Centromere-associated meiotic drive and female fitness variation in Mimulus

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Fishman, LK, J. K.,  Evolution,  69:1208-1218. 2015.
Female meiotic drive, in which chromosomal variants preferentially segregate to the egg pole during asymmetric female meiosis, is a theoretically pervasive but still mysterious form of selfish evolution. Like other selfish genetic elements, driving chromosomes may be maintained ...

Origin, evolution, and population genetics of the selfish Segregation Distorter gene duplication in European and African populations of Drosophila melanogaster

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Brand, CLL, A. M.; Presgraves, D. C.,  Evolution,  69:1271-1283. 2015.
Meiotic drive elements are a special class of evolutionarily selfish genes that subvert Mendelian segregation to gain preferential transmission at the expense of homologous loci. Many drive elements appear to be maintained in populations as stable polymorphisms, their equilibrium ...

Detrimental effects of an autosomal selfish genetic element on sperm competitiveness in house mice

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Sutter, AL, A. K.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  282:1-8. 2015.
Female multiple mating (polyandry) is widespread across many animal taxa and indirect genetic benefits are a major evolutionary force favouring polyandry. An incentive for polyandry arises when multiple mating leads to sperm competition that disadvantages sperm from genetically ...

Analysis of segregation distortion and its relationship to hybrid barriers in rice

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Reflinur, K, B.; Jang, S. M.; Chu, S. H.; Bordiya, Y.; Akter, M. B.; Lee, J.; Chin, J. H.; Koh, H. J.,  Rice,  7:3. 2014.
Segregation distortion (SD) is a frequently observed occurrence in mapping populations generated from crosses involving divergent genotypes. In the present study, ten genetic linkage maps constructed from reciprocal F-2 and BC1F1 mapping populations derived from the parents ...

The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements

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Wedell, N,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  368:10. 2013.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and bacteria, and make up a large part of the genome. They frequently target sperm to increase their transmission success, but these manipulations are often associated with reduced male fertility. Low fertility of ...

Spread of a new parasitic B chromosome variant is facilitated by high gene flow

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Manrique-Poyato, MIL-L, M. D.; Cabrero, J.; Perfectti, F.; Camacho, J. P. M.,  PLOS One,  8:e83712. 2013.
The B-24 chromosome variant emerged several decades ago in a Spanish population of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans and is currently reaching adjacent populations. Here we report, for the first time, how a parasitic B chromosome (a strictly vertically transmitted parasite) ...

Local dynamics of a fast-evolving sex-ratio system in Drosophila simulans

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Bastide, HG, P. R.; Ogereau, D.; Cazemajor, M.; Montchamp-Moreau, C.,  Molecular Ecology,  22:5352-5367. 2013.
By distorting Mendelian transmission to their own advantage, X-linked meiotic drive elements can rapidly spread in natural populations, generating a sex-ratio bias. One expected consequence is the triggering of a co-evolutionary arms race between the sex chromosome that carries ...

General principles of single-construct chromosomal gene drive

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Marshall, JMH, B. A.,  Evolution,  66:2150-2166. 2012.
Gene drive systems are genetic elements capable of spreading into a population even if they confer a fitness cost to their host. We consider a class of drive systems consisting of a chromosomally located, linked cluster of genes, the presence of which renders specific classes of ...

Complex genetic nature of sex-independent transmission ratio distortion in Asian rice species: the involvement of unlinked modifiers and sex-specific mechanisms

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Koide, YS, Y.; Ikenaga, M.; Sawamura, N.; Matsubara, K.; Onishi, K.; Kanazawa, A.; Sano, Y.,  Heredity,  108:242-247. 2012.
Transmission ratio distortion (TRD), in which one allele is transmitted more frequently than the opposite allele, is presumed to act as a driving force in the emergence of a reproductive barrier. TRD acting in a sex-specific manner has been frequently observed in interspecific ...

Local selection underlies the geographic distribution of sex-ratio drive in Drosophila neotestacea

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Dyer, KA,  Evolution,  66:973-984. 2012.
Selfish genetic elements promote their own transmission to the next generation, often at a cost to the host individual. A sex-ratio (SR) driving X chromosome prevents the maturation of Y-bearing sperm, and as a result is transmitted to 100% of the offspring, all of which are ...

Rapid rise and fall of selfish sex-ratio X Chromosomes in Drosophila simulans: Spatiotemporal analysis of phenotypic and molecular data

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Bastide, HC, M.; Ogereau, D.; Derome, N.; Hospital, F.; Montchamp-Moreau, C.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  28:2461-2470. 2011.
Sex-ratio drive, which has been documented in several Drosophila species, is induced by X-linked segregation distorters. Contrary to Mendel's law of independent assortment, the sex-ratio chromosome (X(SR)) is inherited by more than half the offspring of carrier males, resulting ...

Selective microspore abortion correlated with aneuploidy: an indication of meiotic drive

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Furness, CAR, P. J.,  Sexual Plant Reproduction,  24:1-8. 2011.
Selective megaspore abortion (monomegaspory) probably arose once in seed plants and occurs routinely in more than 70% of angiosperm species, representing one of the key characters of a heterosporous life history. In contrast, selective microspore abortion leading to pollen ...

Multi-Locus Assortment (MLA) for transgene dispersal and elimination in mosquito populations

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Rasgon, JL,  PLOS One,  4:e5833. 2009.
: Replacement of wild-type mosquito populations with genetically modified versions is being explored as a potential strategy to control vector-borne diseases. Due to lower expected relative fitness of transgenic individuals, transgenes must be driven into populations for these ...

Large-scale selective sweep among Segregation Distorter chromosomes in African populations Drosophila melanogaster

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Presgraves, DCG, P. R.; Cherukuri, A.; Lyttle, T. W.,  PLOS Genetics,  5:e1000463. 2009.
Segregation Distorter (SD) is a selfish, coadapted gene complex on chromosome 2 of Drosophila melanogaster that strongly distorts Mendelian transmission; heterozygous SD/SD(+) males sire almost exclusively SD-bearing progeny. Fifty years of genetic, molecular, and theory work ...

The evolution of sex-independent transmission ratio distortion involving multiple allelic interactions at a single locus in rice

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Koide, YI, M.; Sawamura, N.; Nishimoto, D.; Matsubara, K.; Onishi, K.; Kanazawa, A.; Sano, Y.,  Genetics,  180:409-420. 2008.
Transmission ratio distortion (TRD) is frequently observed in inter-and intraspecific hybrids of plants, leading to a violation of Mendelian inheritance. Sex-independent TRD (siTRD) was detected in a hybrid between Asian cultivated rice and its wild ancestor. Here we examined how ...

Centromere-associated female meiotic drive entails male fitness costs in Monkeyflowers

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Fishman, LS, A.,  Science,  322:1559-1562. 2008.
Female meiotic drive, in which paired chromosomes compete for access to the egg, is a potentially powerful but rarely documented evolutionary force. In interspecific monkeyflower ( Mimulus) hybrids, a driving M. guttatus allele ( D) exhibits a 98: 2 transmission advantage via ...

Meiotic drive and sex determination: molecular and cytological mechanisms of sex ratio adjustment in birds

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Rutkowska, JB, A. V.,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  363:1675-1686. 2008.
Differences in relative fitness of male and female offspring across ecological and social environments should favour the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms that enable adjustment of brood sex ratio to the context of breeding. Despite the expectation that genetic sex ...

Viability effects and not meoitic drive cause dramatic departures from Mendelian inheritance for malic enzyme in hybrids of Tigriopus californicus populations

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Willett, CSB, J. N.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  20:1196-1205. 2007.
The genetic basis of post-zygotic reproductive isolation is beginning to be untangled in closely related species, but less is known about the genetics of reproductive isolation between divergent populations. Here, two genes encoding malic enzyme (ME) are isolated from the copepod ...

Neurospora spore killers Sk-2 and Sk-3 suppress meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA

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Raju, NBM, R. L.; Shiu, P. T.,  Genetics,  176:43-52. 2007.
In Neurosphora, crassa., pairing of homologous DNA segments is monitored during meiotic prophase I. Any genes not paired with a homolog, as well as any paired homologs of that gene, are silenced during the sexual phase by a mechanism known as meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA ...

Cage trials using an endogenous meiotic drive gene in the mosquito Aedes aegypti to promote population replacement

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Cha, SJM, A.; Chadee, D. D.; Severson, D. W.,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  74:62-68. 2006.
Control of arthropod-borne diseases based on population replacement with genetically modified noncompetent vectors has been proposed as a promising alternative to conventional control strategies. Due to likely fitness costs associated with vectors manipulated to carry ...

Fitness effects of X chromosome drive in the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni

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Wilkinson, GSJ, P. M.; Kelleher, E. S.; Muscedere, M. L.; Lorsong, A.,  Journal of Evolutionary Biology,  19:1851-1860. 2006.
Sex-ratio (SR) males produce predominantly female progeny because most Y chromosome sperm are rendered nonfunctional. The resulting transmission advantage of X-SR chromosomes should eventually cause population extinction unless segregation distortion is masked by suppressors or ...

Segregation distortion in hybrids between the Bogota and USA subspecies of Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Orr, HAI, S.,  Genetics,  169:671-682. 2005.
We show that, contrary to claims in the literature, "sterile" males resulting from the cross of the Bogota and USA subspecies of Drosophila pseudoobscura are weakly fertile. Surprisingly, these hybrid males produce almost all daughters when crossed to females of any genotype ...

Meiotic drive at the Om locus in wild-derived inbred mouse strains

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Kim, KT, S.; Howard, I. B.; Bell, T. A.; Doherty, H. E.; Ideraabdullah, F.; Detwiler, D. A.; De Villena, F. P. M.,  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society,  84:487-492. 2005.
Meiotic drive is an evolutionary force in which natural selection is uncoupled from organismal fitness. Recently, it has been proposed that meiotic drive and genetic drift represent major forces in the evolution of the mammalian karyotype. Meiotic drive involves two types of ...

A novel meiotic drive locus almost completely distorts segregation in Mimulus (monkeyflower) hybrids

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Fishman, LW, J. H.,  Genetics,  169:347-353. 2005.
We report the discovery, mapping, and characterization of a meiotic drive locus (D) exhibiting nearly 100% nonrandom transmission in hybrids between two species of yellow monkeyflowers, outcrossing Mimulus guttatus and selfing M. nasutus. Only 1% of F-2 hybrids were M. nasutus ...

The distribution of B chromosomes across species

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Palestis, BGT, R.; Burt, A.; Jones, R. N.,  Cytogenetic and Genome Research,  106:151-158. 2004.
In this review we look at the broad picture of how B chromosomes are distributed across a wide range of species. We review recent studies of the factors associated with the presence of Bs across species, and provide new analyses with updated data and additional variables. The ...

Sperm survival in female stalk-eyed flies depends on seminal fluid and meiotic drive

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Fry, CLW, G. S.,  Evolution,  58:1622-1626. 2004.
Sperm competition is common in many insect species; however, the mechanisms underlying differences in sperm precedence are not well understood. In the stalk-eyed fly, Cyrtodiopsis whitei (Diptera, Diopsidae), sperm precedence is influenced by the presence of sex chromosome ...

Homing endonuclease genes: the rise and fall and rise again of a selfish element

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Burt, AK, V.,  Current Opinion in Genetics & Development,  14:609-615. 2004.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) are selfish genetic elements that spread by first cleaving chromosomes that do not contain them and then getting copied across to the broken chromosome as a byproduct of the repair process. The success of this strategy will depend on the ...

Adaptation for horizontal transfer in a homing endonuclease

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Koufopanou, VG, M. R.; Burt, A.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  19:239-246. 2002.
Selfish genes of no function other than self-propagation are susceptible to degeneration if they become fixed in a population. and regular transfer to new species may be the only means for their long-term persistence. To test this idea we surveyed 24 species of yeast for VDE, a ...

Does Stellate cause meiotic drive in Drosophila melanogaster?

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Belloni, MT, P.; Bozzetti, M. P.; Palumbo, G.; Robbins, L. G.,  Genetics,  161:1551-1559. 2002.
Drosophila melanogaster males deficient for the crystal (cry) locus of the Y chromosome that carry between 15 and 60 copies of the X-linked Stellate (Ste) gene are semisterile, have elevated levels of nondisjunction, produce distorted sperm genotype ratios (meiotic drive), and ...

Meiotic drive alters sperm competitive ability in stalk-eyed flies

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Wilkinson, GSF, C. L.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  268:2559-2564. 2001.
Meiotic drive results when sperm carrying a driving chromosome preferentially survive development. Meiotic drive should therefore influence sperm competition because drive males produce fewer sperm than non-drive males. Whether meiotic drive also influences the competitive ...

Selection and segregation distortion in a sex-differentiated population

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Weissing, FJvB, M.,  Theoretical Population Biology,  60:327-341. 2001.
We extend the classical model for selection at an autosomal locus in a sex-differentiated population to include segregation distortion. The equations remain the same, but the fitness parameters are interpreted differently and refer to alleles instead of genotypes. We derive ...

Sex chromosome meiotic drive

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Jaenike, J,  Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics,  32:25-49. 2001.
Sex chromosome drive refers to the unequal transmission of X and Y chromosomes from individuals of the heterogametic sex, resulting in biased sex ratios among progeny and within populations, The presence of driving sex chromosomes can reduce mean fitness within a population, ...

Outcrossed sex allows a selfish gene to invade yeast populations

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Goddard, MRG, D.; Burt, A.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  268:2537-2542. 2001.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) in eukaryotes are optional genes that have no obvious effect on host phenotype except for causing chromosomes not containing a cop), of the gene to be cut, thus causing them to be inherited at a greater than Mendelian rate via gene conversion. ...

A male-biased primary sex ratio and larval mortality in Eucheira socialis (Lepidoptera : Pieridae)

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Underwood, DLAS, A. M.,  Evolutionary Ecology Research,  1:703-717. 1999.
We investigated the sex ratio and sex-biased mortality in the Mexican pierid butterfly, Eucheira socialis westwoodi. We studied two populations between 1990 and 1997 along Mexico Highway 40, which runs from Mazatlan, Sinaloa to Durango, Durango, Populations occurring between km ...

Evolution of driving X chromosomes and resistance factors in experimental populations of Drosophila simulans

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Capillon, CA, A.,  Evolution,  53:506-517. 1999.
Sex-ratio drive is a particular case of meiotic drive, described in several Drosophila species, that causes males bearing driving X chromosome to produce a large excess of females in their progeny. In Drosophila simulans, driving X chromosomes and resistance factors located on ...

Meiotic drive favors Robertsonian metacentric chromosomes in the common shrew (Sorex araneus, Insectivora, Mammalia)

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Wyttenbach, AB, P.; Hausser, J.,  Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics,  83:199-206. 1998.
Meiotic drive has attracted much interest because it concerns the robustness of Mendelian segregation and its genetic and evolutionary stability. We studied chromosomal meiotic drive in the common shrew (Sorex araneus, Insectivora, Mammalia), which exhibits one of the most ...

Male eye span in stalk-eyed flies indicates genetic quality by meiotic drive suppression

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Wilkinson, GSP, D. C.; Crymes, L.,  Nature,  391:276-279. 1998.
In some species, females choose mates possessing ornaments that predict offspring survival(1-5). However, sexual selection by female preference for male genetic quality(6-8) remains controversial because conventional genetic mechanisms maintain insufficient variation in male ...

Selected lines of Aedes aegypti with persistently distorted sex ratios

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OwusuDaaku, KOW, R. J.; Butler, R. D.,  Heredity,  79:388-393. 1997.
A breeding scheme to isolate X chromosomes sensitive to drive by the T8 (Trinidad) Y chromosome of Aedes aegypti (the MD haplotype) is reported. Crosses with an Australian strain Th.I (Thursday Island) revealed not only sensitive and resistant X chromosomes but also some with the ...

Meiotic drive in fungi: Chromosomal elements that cause fratricide and distort genetic ratios

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Raju, NB,  Journal of Genetics,  75:287-296. 1996.
Fungal Spore killers (Sk), studied most extensively in Neurospora and to a lesser extent in Podospora, Gibberella and Cochliobolus, cause the death of ascospores (= meiospores) that do not contain the killer (Sk(K)) element. When a Spore killer is heterozygous (Sk(K) x Sk(S)) in ...

The effect of B chromosomes on mating success of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans

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Martin, SA, P.; HenriquesGil, N.,  Genetica,  97:197-203. 1996.
The mating ability of E. plorans was tested in laboratory conditions in six experimental units composed of ten males and fifteen females during 31 days. When significant differences were found (three from the six cages, and in totals) they involved a decrease of matings involving ...

A Guide to the Convention on Biological Diversity

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Glowka, L, et al.,  IUCN,  1994.

The paternal-sex-ratio chromosome of Nasonia

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Werren, JH,  American Naturalist,  137:392-402. 1991.
Paternal sex ratio (PSR) is a supernumerary chromosome that is transmitted through sperm to fertilized eggs and then gains a transmission advantage by causing supercondensation of the paternal chromosomes (except itself). Because of haplodiploidy, this converts diploid females ...

Sex ratio polymorphism in Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Beckenbach, AT,  American Naturalist,  137:340-343. 1991.
I studied "sex-ratio" (SR) genotype frequencies in two populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura from southeastern Arizona: Bear Creek Canyon and Tucson. Wild-inseminated females were collected, their fecundities measured in the laboratory, and their SR genotypes inferred by ...

Expression of meiotic drive elements Spore Killer-2 and Spore Killer-3 in asci of Neurospora tetrasperma

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Raju, NBP, D. D.,  Genetics,  129:25-37. 1991.
It was shown previously that when a chromosomal Spore killer factor is heterozygous in Neurospora species with eight-spored asci, the four sensitive ascospores in each ascus die and the four survivors are all killers. Sk-2K and Sk-3K are nonrecombining haplotypes that segregate ...

Sex-ratio meiotic drive in Drosophila testacea

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James, ACJ, J.,  Genetics,  126:651-656. 1990.
We document the occurrence of "sex ratio" meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila testacea. "Sex ratio" males sire greater than 95% female offspring. Genetic analysis reveals that this effect is due to a meiotically driven X chromosome, as in other species of ...

Genetics-driving genes and chromosomes

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Charlesworth, B,  Nature,  332:394-395. 1988.
Thereare several genetic and chromosomal systems in which Mendel's first law - the equal probability of transmission of maternal and paternal alternative alleles or homologues - is violated. This phenomenon was named 'meiotic drive' in 1957 by Sandler and Novitski, who drew ...

Polymorphism in the rates of meiotic drive acting on the B-chromosome of Myrmeleotettix maculatus

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Shaw, MWH, G. M.; Anderson, D. A.,  Heredity,  55:61-68. 1985.
A survey of all the available data on meiotic transmission rates in M. maculatus suggests that a polymorphism in female transmission rate exists in most natural populations. Differences in the frequency of the types or in the transmission rates they manifest may exist between ...

Transporting marker gene re (red eye) into a laboratory cage population of Aedes aegypti (Diptera Culicidae), using meiotic drive at MD locus

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Wood, RJC, L. M.; Hamilton, A.; Whitelaw, A.,  Journal of Medical Entomology,  14:461-464. 1978.
An attempt has.been made to use the meiotic drive gene MD to transport a marker re (red eye) into a laboaratory population of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The experiment produced an increase in re frequency, but also indicated that this gene has unexpectedly high fitness in the ...

Experimental population-genetics of meiotic drive systems .1: Pseudo-Y chromosomal drive as a means of eliminating cage populations of Drosophila melanogaster

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Lyttle, TW,  Genetics,  86:413-445. 1977.
The experimental population genetics of Y-chromosome drive in Drosophila; melanogasier is approximated by studying the behavior of T(Y;S),SD lines.; These exhibit “pseudo-Y” drive through the effective coupling of the Y chromosome; to the second chromosome meiotic drive ...

Field trial of competitive displacement of Aedes-polynesiensis by Aedes-albopictus on a Pacific atoll

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L. Rosen, L. E. Rozeboom, W. C. Reeves, J. Saugrain and D. J. Gubler,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  25:906-913. 1976.
Prior laboratory studies and field observations suggested that it might be possible to reduce the size of the population of, or eliminate, Aedes polynesiensis by the introduction of Aedes albopictus. The former mosquito is the principal vector of nonperiodic filariasis caused by ...

Sex-ration, meiotic drive, and group selectin in Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Policansky, D,  American Naturalist,  108:75-90. 1974.
Sex ratio (SR) is a widespread genetic condition of the X-chromosome in Drosophila species which causes males to produce progenies consisting almost entirely of females. Results of samples from natural populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura and results of some laboratory ...

Analysis of irradiated Drosophila populations for meiotic drive

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Novitski, EH, G. D.,  Nature,  190:989-990. 1961.
The existence of chromosomes or alleles that are represented in the gametes of a heterozygote with a frequency greater than the expected 50 percent is now well established for a variety of species. The immediate population result of introducing such a chromosome or allele must ...

Meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster .6: A preliminary report on presence of segregation-distortion in a Baja california population

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Mange, EJ,  American Naturalist,  95:87-96. 1961.
Meiotic drive is a term coined by Sandler and Novitski (1957) to describe; the situation whereby a heterozygote produces gametes containing an excess; of one allele, rather than the expected equality. As a consequence of such; aberrant segregations, gene frequencies within a ...

Time of temperature sensitivity of meiotic drive in Drosophila melanogaster

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Erickson, JH, G. D.,  American Naturalist,  95:247-250. 1961.
In a line of Drosophila melanogaster demonstrating meiotic drive, it was found that the high recovery rate of the X-chromosome could be nearly nullified by temperature treatment. A series of experiments were carried out to determine at what stage of the life-cycle this treatment ...