Keywords: Insects

Generating cisgenic sexing strains in insect pests

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Davydova, S., Liu, J., Kandul, N.P. et al.,  Communications Biology,  2026.
Insect pest population control via sterile insect technique markedly benefits from separation by sex prior to release. To simplify this process, traditional genetics has been deployed to develop genetic sexing strains (GSSs) for several disease vectors and agricultural pests of ...

A male-transmitted B chromosome undergoes strong meiotic drag in females of the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis

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Ferree PM, Cummings J, Garman E, Solomon J, Martinez KS,  PLoS Biol,  24. 2026.
Many organisms carry extra, non-essential chromosomes known as B chromosomes (Bs), which are selfishly transmitted at super-mendelian levels to offspring. This heightened transmission, termed drive, occurs during gametogenesis, usually in one of the two parents. In some cases, Bs ...

Identification and evaluation of two testis-specific serine/threonine kinase genes from multi-tissue transcriptomes as potential genetic targets of sterile insect technique in Zeugodacus tau

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Weijun Li, Cuikang Xu, Hongshi Chen, et al.,  Pest Management Science,  2026.
Zeugodacus tau (Walker) is a notorious agricultural pest causing significant economic losses in vegetable production for many years. Sterile insect technique (SIT) has emerged as an environmentally sustainable pest management strategy. However, discovery of molecular targets ...

Suitability of a chilled environmental box of the Precision X-RAD 320 cabinet style irradiator for the irradiation of mosquitoes and tsetse in the context of the sterile insect technique

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Hanano Yamada, Bénéwendé Aristide Kaboré, Samar Eisa, et al.,  Journal of Economic Entomology,  2025.
A cabinet-style small animal X-irradiator outfitted with an environmental chamber which can provide a consistent, chilled environment during irradiation was tested to sterilize the human and animal disease vectors Aedes aegypti Linnaeus (Diptera: Culicidae), Anopheles ...

Impact of long-term mass-rearing on the genetic structure of tsetse fly Glossina palpalis gambiensis colonies

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Kiswend-sida M. Dera, Soumaïla Pagabeleguem, Tito Tresor Melachio Tanekou, et al.,  Insect Science,  32. 2025.
Tsetse flies are the sole cyclic vectors of African trypanosomes, which cause human and animal African trypanosomiases in Africa. Tsetse fly control remains a promising option for disease management. The sterile insect technique (SIT) stands as an environmentally friendly tool to ...

Selection, counterselection, and conditional gene expression for genetic biocontrol of insects

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Melanie Hempel, Zhijian Tu,  Insect Science,  2025.
Genetic biocontrol methods are species-specific ways to suppress or modify pest insect populations to mitigate their economic or health impact. Successful genetic biocontrol often requires mass releases of only males of the target species. Reliable and cost-effective sex ...

The impact of sterile insect technique processes on the performance of tephritid flies

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Mayren Sánchez-Rosario, Jorge Toledo, Walther Enkerlin,  Insect Science,  2025.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a pest control method that has been successful in controlling various species of fruit flies of economic importance worldwide. However, SIT procedures can affect the performance of mass-reared sterile fruit flies, compromising the SIT ...

The role of the transformer gene in sex determination and its employment in CRISPR/Cas9-based homing gene drive in the global fruit pest Drosophila suzukii

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Dan Deng, Xueying Yi, Wen Wen, Liuqing He, Wei Peng,  Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,  184. 2025.
Sex determination of Diptera is established by the cascade genes such as transformer (tra), though the primary signals for sex determination differ among different insects. Here, we report the isolation, expression and function of tra gene in an invasive pest, Drosophila ...

Leveraging Sex Determination Systems for Genetic Biocontrol of Dipteran Pests

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Maxwell J. Scott, Zhijian Tu,  Current Opinion in Insect Science,  2025.
Genetic biocontrol is an increasingly important way to suppress insect pest populations and to mitigate their economic and health impact. One key advantage is that it is species-specific as it relies on mating of released males with wild females to either suppress or modify ...

Single-cell consequences of X-linked meiotic drive in stalk-eyed flies

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Price PD, Parkus SM, Lloyd VJ, Alston BT, Bradshaw SL, Bates S, et al.,  PLoS Genet,  21. 2025.
Meiotic drivers, a class of selfish gene, are frequently located on sex chromosomes and have dramatic impacts on gamete development. However, our understanding of their molecular consequences for gamete production and sex chromosome regulation has focused on a handful of model ...

Field Performance of a Self-Limiting, Genetically Engineered Fall Armyworm for Biological Pest Management

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Reavey Catherine E. , Domingues Felipe A. , Ercit Kyla, et al.,  Sec. Pest Management,  7. 2025.
The fall armyworm is one of the most globally significant agricultural pests, damaging corn, sorghum and other crops central to food production. It has developed resistance to several classes of chemical insecticides and, more recently, insect-resistant ‘Bt’ biotech corn ...