Keywords: genetic sexing

Combining two genetic sexing strains allows sorting of non-transgenic males for Aedes genetic control

C. Lutrat, M. Burckbuchler, R. P. Olmo, R. Beugnon, A. Fontaine, O. S. Akbari, R. Argilés-Herrero, T. Baldet, J. Bouyer and E. Marois,  Communications Biology,  6:646. 2023.
Chemical control of disease vectoring mosquitoes Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti is costly, unsustainable, and increasingly ineffective due to the spread of insecticide resistance. The Sterile Insect Technique is a valuable alternative but is limited by slow, error-prone, and ...
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Genomic and cytogenetic analysis of the Ceratitis capitata temperature-sensitive lethal region

G. Sollazzo, G. Gouvi, K. Nikolouli, R. A. Aumann, H. Djambazian, M. A. Whitehead, P. Berube, S.-H. Chen, G. Tsiamis, A. C. Darby, J. Ragoussis, M. F. Schetelig and K. Bourtzis,  G3-Genes Genomes Genetics,  13. 2023.
Genetic sexing strains (GSS) are an important tool in support of sterile insect technique (SIT) applications against insect pests and disease vectors. The yet unknown temperature-sensitive lethal (tsl) gene and the recently identified white pupae (wp) gene have been used as ...
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White-Eyed Fruit Flies: How Improvements in Gene Editing Could Aid in Pest Managemen

C. Bernhardt,  Entomology Today,  2023.
The SIT involves scientists raising the target fruit fly species in the lab, sterilizing the flies by exposing them to a certain amount of radiation while they are still pupae, and releasing large amounts of the newly sterile flies into nature. When the released, sterile flies ...
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New self-sexing Aedes aegypti strain eliminates barriers to scalable and sustainable vector control for governments and communities in dengue-prone environments

S. A. M. Spinner, Z. H. Barnes, A. M. Puinean, P. Gray, T. Dafa’alla, C. E. Phillips, C. Nascimento de Souza, T. F. Frazon, K. Ercit, A. Collado, N. Naish, E. Sulston, G. C. Ll. Phillips, K. K. Greene, M. Poletto, B. D. Sperry, S. A. Warner, N. R. Rose, G,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  10. 2022.
For more than 60 years, efforts to develop mating-based mosquito control technologies have largely failed to produce solutions that are both effective and scalable, keeping them out of reach of most governments and communities in disease-impacted regions globally. High pest ...
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Combining two Genetic Sexing Strains allows sorting of non-transgenic males for Aedes genetic control

C. Lutrat, M. Burckbuchler, R. P. Olmo, R. Beugnon, A. Fontaine, T. Baldet, J. Bouyer and E. Marois,  bioRxiv,  2022.03.11.483912. 2022.
Chemical control of the mosquito vectors Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti is costly, unsustainable, and increasingly ineffective due to the spread of insecticide resistance. The Sterile Insect Technique is an autocidal control tactic that represents a valuable alternative but ...
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Temperature-Inducible Precision-Guided Sterile Insect Technique

N. P. Kandul, J. R. Liu and O. S. Akbari,  CRISPR Journal,  14. 2021.
Releases of sterile males are the gold standard for many insect population control programs, and precise sex sorting to remove females prior to male releases is essential to the success of these operations. To advance traditional methods for scaling the generation of sterile ...
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Transgenic expression of Nix converts genetic females into males and allows automated sex sorting in Aedes albopictus

C. Lutrat, R. P. Olmo, T. Baldet, J. Bouyer and E. Marois,  bioRxiv,  2021.07.28.454191. 2021.
Aedes albopictus is a major vector of arboviruses. Better understanding of its sex determination is crucial for developing mosquito control tools, especially genetic sexing strains. In Aedes aegypti, Nix is the primary gene responsible for masculinization and Nix-expressing ...
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Sex separation of Aedes spp. mosquitoes for sterile insect technique application: a review

B. M. Moran-Aceves, C. F. Marina, A. Dor, P. Liedo and J. Toledo,  Entomologia Experimentalis Et Applicata,  10. 2021.
Separation of the sexes is necessary for the application of the sterile insect technique (SIT) in mosquitoes due to the hematophagous habits and disease vector activity of the females. In this review we analyze the history, current status, and future perspectives for the ...
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Using Moderate Transgene Expression to Improve the Genetic Sexing System of the Australian Sheep Blow Fly Lucilia cuprina

Y. Yan, M. E. Williamson and M. J. Scott,  Insects,  11. 2021.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a promising strategy to control the Australian sheep blow fly Lucilia cuprina, a major pest of sheep. We have previously developed a transgenic embryonic sexing system (TESS) for this pest to facilitate the potential SIT application. TESS ...
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How AI and mosquito sex parties can save the world

D. Takahashi,  Ventura Beat,  2021.
Jerusalem-based Diptera.ai has figured out a way to use AI to fight the growing threat of mosquitoes, which are spreading malaria and viruses like Zika, dengue, and yellow fever. While the method for fighting mosquitoes has been around for decades, AI can take it to a new level ...
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A Novel Genetic Sexing Strain of Anastrepha Ludens for Cost-Effective Sterile Insect Technique Applications: Improved Genetic Stability and Rearing Efficiency

E. Ramírez-Santos, P. Rendon, G. Gouvi, A. Zacharopoulou, K. Bourtzis, C. Cáceres and K. Bloem,  Insects,  12. 2021.
Anastrepha ludens (Loew) is one of the most destructive insect pests damaging several fruits of economic importance. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is used under an area-wide integrated pest management approach, to suppress these pest populations. Mass rearing facilities were ...
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The Insect Pest Control Laboratory of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme: Ten Years (2010–2020) of Research and Development, Achievements and Challenges in Support of the Sterile Insect Technique

M. J. B. Vreysen, A. M. M. Abd-Alla, K. Bourtzis, J. Bouyer, C. Caceres, C. de Beer, D. Oliveira Carvalho, H. Maiga, W. Mamai, K. Nikolouli, H. Yamada and R. Pereira,  Insects,  12. 2021.
The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre (formerly called Division) of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture was established in 1964 and its accompanying laboratories in 1961. One of its subprograms deals with insect pest control, and has the mandate to develop and implement the sterile ...
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Introduction of a cold sensitivity-conferring mutation into the RTA-Bddsx hybrid system of Bactrocera dorsalis for establishment of a thermally controllable homozygous line

S. M. Dai, C. Y. Huang and C. Chang,  Pest Management Science,  7. 2021.
BACKGROUND For efficient control of the economically important fruit pest Bactrocera dorsalis, a hybrid system combining ricin toxicity and sex-related alternative splicing of the doublesex gene has been developed. This system exhibits the expected female-specific lethal effect; ...
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Determining the Sterilization Doses under Hypoxia for the Novel Black Pupae Genetic Sexing Strain of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae)

P. D. Giustina, T. Mastrangelo, S. Ahmad, G. Mascarin and C. Caceres,  Insects,  12. 2021.
Our study reports for the first time the dose-sterility response under hypoxia for two different A. fraterculus strains. The pupae were derived from a bisexual strain (a Brazilian-1 population) and a recently developed genetic sexing strain (GSS-89). Two hours prior to ...
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White pupae phenotype of tephritids is caused by parallel mutations of a MFS transporter

C. M. Ward, R. A. Aumann, M. A. Whitehead, K. Nikolouli, G. Leveque, G. Gouvi, E. Fung, S. J. Reiling, H. Djambazian, M. A. Hughes, S. Whiteford, C. Caceres-Barrios, T. N. M. Nguyen, A. Choo, P. Crisp, S. B. Sim, S. M. Geib, F. Marec, I. Hacker, J. Ragous,  Nature Communications,  12. 2021.
Here, we use classical and modern genetic approaches to identify and functionally characterize causal wp(-) mutations in these distantly related fruit fly species. We find that the wp phenotype is produced by parallel mutations in a single, conserved gene. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ...
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Genetic sexing strains for the population suppression of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti

P. Koskinioti, A. A. Augustinos, D. O. Carvalho, M. Misbah-ul-Haq, G. Pillwax, L. D. d. l. Fuente, G. Salvador-Herranz, R. A. Herrero and K. Bourtzis,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  376:20190808. 2020.
Here, we report on the construction of two genetic sexing strains using red- and white-eye colour mutations as selectable markers. Quality control analysis showed that the Red-eye genetic sexing strains (GSS) is better and more genetically stable than the White-eye GSS. The ...
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A novel drug-inducible sex separation technique for insects

Kandul, N. P., J. Liu, A. D. Hsu, B. A. Hay and O. S. Akbari,  bioRxiv,  2019:2019.12.13.875716. 2019.
Large sterile male releases are the gold standard for most insect population control methods and thus precise sex sorting is essential to the success of these technologies. Sex sorting is especially important for mosquito control because female mosquitoes bite and transmit ...
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Sex Sorting for Pest Control: It’s Raining Men!

C. Lutrat, D. Giesbrecht, E. Marois, S. Whyard, T. Baldet and J. Bouyer,  Trends in Parasitology,  35:649-662. 2019.
In the pursuit of better pest- and vector-control strategies, attention returns to an old proven technology, the sterile insect technique (SIT) and related insect population-suppression methods. A major obstacle for any of these approaches that involves the release of sterile ...
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Sterile insect technique field trials to eliminate malaria under way

Anonymous,  SA Department of Science and Innovation,  2018.
The first South African research trial for the biological control of mosquitoes using the sterile insect technique started in Jozini in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this month, with funding from the Department of Science and Technology. South Africa is making significant progress in ...
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Mating competitiveness of sterile genetic sexing strain males (GAMA) under laboratory and semi-field conditions: Steps towards the use of the Sterile Insect Technique to control the major malaria vector Anopheles arabiensis in South Africa

G. Munhenga, B. D. Brooke, J. R. L. Gilles, K. Slabbert, A. Kemp, L. C. Dandalo, O. R. Wood, L. N. Lobb, D. Govender, M. Renke and L. L. Koekemoer,  Parasites and Vectors,  9:122. 2016.
Anopheles arabiensis Patton is primarily responsible for malaria transmission in South Africa after successful suppression of other major vector species using indoor spraying of residual insecticides. Control of An. arabiensis using current insecticide based approaches is proving ...
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First Anopheles arabiensis germline transformation: Toward the development of a transgenic genetic sexing strain

H. C. Bossin, J. Thailayil, F. Catteruccia, J. P. Benton, A. Crisanti, M. Q. Benedict, B. G. Knols and A. S. Robinson,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  75:66-66. 2006.
The ability to genetically engineer mosquitoes is likely to have major implications for the development and implementation of genetic control systems against mosquito disease vectors such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). In particular, genetically transformed mosquito ...
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