Keywords: Moths

CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing in the Diamondback Moth: Current Progress, Challenges, and Prospects

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Asad, M., Chang, Y., Liao, J., & Yang, G.,  International Journal of Molecular Sciences,  26:1515. 2025.
The development of site-specific genome-editing tools like CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat) and its associated protein, Cas9, is revolutionizing genetic engineering with its highly efficient mechanism, offering the potential for effective pest ...

Loss-of-function in testis-specific serine/threonine protein kinase triggers male infertility in an invasive moth

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Wei, Z., Wang, Y., Zheng, K. et al.,  Communications Biology,  7. 2024.
Genetic biocontrol technologies present promising and eco-friendly strategies for the management of pest and insect-transmitted diseases. Although considerable advancements achieve in gene drive applications targeting mosquitoes, endeavors to combat agricultural pests have been ...

Male-killing virus leads to more female moths

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Anonymous,  Nature,  2023.
Keisuke Nagamine at Minami Kyushu University in Miyazaki, Japan, and his colleagues have identified another virus that kills male embryos of the tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura. Female moths infected with the virus produced an equal number of male and female embryos, but ...

Male-killing virus in a noctuid moth Spodoptera litura

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K. Nagamine, Y. Kanno, K. Sahara, T. Fujimoto, A. Yoshido, Y. Ishikawa, M. Terao, D. Kageyama and Y. Shintani,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  120:e2312124120. 2023.
A female-biased sex ratio is considered advantageous for the cytoplasmic elements that inhabit sexually reproducing organisms. There are numerous examples of bacterial symbionts in the arthropod cytoplasm that bias the host sex ratio toward females through various means, ...

Mating Competitiveness of Irradiated Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Male-Only and Both Sex Release Strategies under Laboratory Cage Conditions

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G. Saour, A. Hashem and I. Jassem,  Insects,  14. 2022.
This laboratory study explored the concept of whether irradiated male-only releases are more or equally efficient as releases of both irradiated males and females in the context of using the sterile insect technique/inherited sterility (SIT/IS) for the management of the European ...

A Wolbachia factor for male killing in lepidopteran insects

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S. Katsuma, K. Hirota, N. Matsuda-Imai, T. Fukui, T. Muro, K. Nishino, H. Kosako, K. Shoji, H. Takanashi, T. Fujii, S.-i. Arimura and T. Kiuchi,  Nature Communications,  13:6764. 2022.
Bacterial symbionts, such as Wolbachia species, can manipulate the sexual development and reproduction of their insect hosts. For example, Wolbachia infection induces male-specific death in the Asian corn borer Ostrinia furnacalis by targeting the host factor Masculinizer (Masc), ...

Sterility of Cydia pomonella by X ray irradiation as an alternative to gamma radiation for the sterile insect technique

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J.-H. Zhang, N. Li, H.-Y. Zhao, Y.-Q. Wang, X.-Q. Yang and K.-M. Wu,  Bulletin of Entomological Research,  2022.
The codling moth Cydia pomonella is a major pest of global significance impacting pome fruits and walnuts. It threatens the apple industry in the Loess Plateau and Bohai Bay in China. Sterile insect technique (SIT) could overcome the limitations set by environmentally compatible ...

Development of CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene-Drive Construct Targeting the Phenotypic Gene in Plutella xylostella

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M. Asad, D. Liu, J. Li, J. Chen and G. Yang,  Frontiers in Physiology,  13:938621. 2022.
The gene-drive system can ensure that desirable traits are transmitted to the progeny more than the normal Mendelian segregation. The clustered regularly interspersed palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) mediated gene-drive system has been demonstrated ...

Toward a CRISPR-Cas9-Based Gene Drive in the Diamondback Moth Plutella xylostella

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X. Xu, T. Harvey-Samuel, H. A. Siddiqui, J. X. D. Ang, M. E. Anderson, C. M. Reitmayer, E. Lovett, P. T. Leftwich, M. You and L. Alphey,  The CRISPR Journal,  5:224-236. 2022.
Promising to provide powerful genetic control tools, gene drives have been constructed in multiple dipteran insects, yeast, and mice for the purposes of population elimination or modification. However, it remains unclear whether these techniques can be applied to lepidopterans. ...

Fall armyworms with offspring-killing gene tested on farms in Brazil

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M. Le Page,  New Scientist,  2022.
Fall armyworms genetically modified to wipe out wild populations of the pests have been released in corn fields in São Paulo State in Brazil in the first farm trial of the new technology. The test was a success and is now being expanded, says Oxitec, the UK-based company that ...

New tech fights fall armyworm by letting offspring die

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V. Ouma,  Sci Dev Net,  2022.
Scientists have developed a new technology that could control the devastating fall armyworm crop pest by releasing genetically-controlled males that suppress populations as subsequent offspring cannot survive, a study says. The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, which was ...

Self-limiting fall armyworm: a new approach in development for sustainable crop protection and resistance management

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C. E. Reavey, A. S. Walker, S. P. Joyce, L. Broom, A. Willse, K. Ercit, M. Poletto, Z. H. Barnes, T. Marubbi, B. J. Troczka, D. Treanor, K. Beadle, B. Granville, V. de Mello, J. Teal, E. Sulston, A. Ashton, L. Akilan, N. Naish, O. Stevens, N. Humphreys-Jo,  BMC Biotechnology,  22:5. 2022.
Here, we describe the first germline transformation of the fall armyworm and the development of a genetically engineered male-selecting self-limiting strain, OX5382G, which exhibits complete female mortality in the absence of an additive in the larval diet. Laboratory experiments ...

Putting the sterile insect technique into the modern integrated pest management toolbox to control the codling moth in Canada

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Nelson, C., Esch, E., Kimmie, S., Tesche, M., and Philip, H. Arthur, S.,  AREA-WIDE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT: Development and Field Application,  2021.
The Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release (OKSIR) programme, in southern British Columbia, Canada, has been successfully applying the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) as part of a sustainable areawide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programme to control the codling moth ...

Towards CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drive in the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella

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X. Xu, T. Harvey-Samuel, H. Siddiqui, J. Ang, M. A. E. Anderson, C. Reitmayer, E. Lovett, P. T. Leftwich, M. You and L. Alphey,  bioRxiv,  2021.10.05.462963. 2021.
Promising to provide powerful genetic control tools, gene drives have been constructed in multiple dipterans, yeast and mice, for the purposes of population elimination or modification. However, it remains unclear whether these techniques can be applied to lepidopterans. Here, we ...

Persistent Spodoptera frugiperda rhabdovirus infection in Sf9 cells is not restricted by Wolbachia wMelPop-CLA and wAlbB strains and is targeted by the RNAi machinery

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R. Parry, H. de Malmanche and S. Asgari,  Virology,  563:82-87. 2021.
The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis confers RNA virus refractoriness in Drosophila and Aedes mosquitoes. Questions remain about the Wolbachia-virus restriction phenotype and how extensive this phenomenon may be within other arthropods. Here, we generated two ...

CRISPR/Cas9-based functional characterization of the pigmentation gene ebony in Plutella xylostella

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X. Xu, T. Harvey-Samuel, J. Yang, M. You and L. Alphey,  Insect Molecular Biology,  2021.
Abstract Body pigmentation is an important character of insects in adapting to biotic and abiotic environmental challenges. Additionally, based on the relative ease of screening, several genes involved in insect melanisation have been used in classic genetic studies or as visual ...

British Firm Develops ‘Friendly’ Fall Armyworm To Save Crops

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J. Choubey,  Zenger,  2021.
The genetically modified fall armyworm, a pest that has invaded farms across Asia, Africa, and the Americas, has been developed by U.K-based biotechnology firm Oxitec to reduce the species’ population. The fall armyworm, or Spodoptera frugiperda, is a lepidopteran pest ...

Bliotech firm behind CRISPR mosquitoes is working on other gene-hacked creatures

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D. Robitzski,  Futurism,  2021.
Brazil’s regulatory agency CTNBio gave Oxitec and Bayer the approval they needed to launch a field test of the gene-hacked armyworm ­— technically a caterpillar — on commercial crops, so there may be genetically altered bugs crawling across corn farms in the area soon. ...

Next gen insect control

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E. Unglesbee,  Progressive Farmer,  2021.
Dubbed "self-limiting" insects by their makers, a UK-based biotechnology company called Oxitec, these insects are genetically modified (GM) with an inserted gene that permits only male offspring to survive. Once released into a pest community, the GM insects gradually lower the ...

Armyworm meets Friendly moth

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M. Francisco,  Nature Biotechnology,  39:532-532. 2021.
The fall armyworm moth, a pest so named for its caterpillar’s invasive and destructive behavior, may now have to contend with a ‘Friendly’ foe. UK-based Oxitec and agbiotech giant Bayer have jointly developed a genetically modified variety to combat the fall armyworm ...

Oxitec Receives Landmark Biosafety Approval for New Fall Armyworm Control Solution

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Oxitec,  Oxitec,  2021.
Approval of Oxitec’s Friendly™ fall armyworm technology by the Brazilian government’s regulatory agency CTNBio confirms that it is safe for people, animals and the environment. Oxitec’s Friendly™ fall armyworm is a new, safe, and sustainable solution to one of the ...

Operational Parameters for the Aerial Release of Sterile Codling Moths Using an Uncrewed Aircraft System

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E. D. Esch, R. M. Horner, D. C. Krompetz, N. Moses-Gonzales, M. R. Tesche and D. M. Suckling,  Insects,  12:2/13/2021. 2021.
The codling moth is a serious pest of apples in most regions of the world where this fruit is produced. The sterile insect technique is one strategy used to control this pest and is employed as part of an area-wide integrated pest management program for the codling moth in ...

Combined Effects of Mating Disruption, Insecticides, and the Sterile Insect Technique on Cydia pomonella in New Zealand

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R. M. Horner, P. L. Lo, D. J. Rogers, J. T. S. Walker and D. M. Suckling,  Insects,  11:23. 2020.
We aimed to supplement these tactics with the sterile insect technique (SIT) to further suppress the codling moth on orchards. SIT involves mass rearing and sterilizing codling moth and then releasing them onto orchards where they mate with wild insects resulting in no offspring. ...

Can a Genetically Modified Bug Combat a Global Farm Plague?

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E. Nitler,  Wired,  2020.
Executives from the US-owned, but UK-based, firm Oxitec and its multinational partner Bayer announced today that they have developed a fall armyworm that has a self-limiting gene introduced into the male of the species.

Recessive Z-linked lethals and the retention of haplotype diversity in a captive butterfly population

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I. J. Saccheri, S. Whiteford, C. J. Yung and A. E. van't Hof,  Heredity,  2020.
Sex chromosomes are predicted to harbour elevated levels of sexually antagonistic variation due to asymmetries in the heritability of recessive traits in the homogametic versus heterogametic sex.

Genetically engineered moths may save kale chips

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C. Poku,  BIOtechNOW,  2020.
Sea salt kale chips, bacon brussels sprouts, and buffalo cauliflower wings are under threat. Environmental activists will have you believe the biggest threat to our food system is pesticides. That’s not true, in fact, it’s insects—the very reason most pesticides are ...

Genetically engineered moths have been released into the wild to wipe out pests

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K. Rogers,  CNN,  2020.
Genetically modified diamondback moths designed to wipe out wild pest populations were released in fields for the first time in New York state. Diamondback moths are migratory pests found in the Americas, Europe, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, but especially in areas where ...

Genetically modified butterflies could herald a new era in crop protection

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Science News,,  Science News,  2020.
New study highlights successful test including field release of genetically modified butterflies. Scientists believe this success could pave the way for an effective and sustainable approach to pest control in crops. The butterfly in question is the cruciferous moth ( Plutella ...

World’s First Genetically Modified Moths Released to Nature

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M. Cage,  SOMAG News,  2020.
There are many insect species that harm agricultural products in the world. One of them is diamond moths. Genetically modified moths were used to control these moths, which are harmful to many plants. Plutella xylostella or also known as diamond moths; One of the most harmful ...

GMO diamondback moth shows promise as sustainable pest control tool in first ever open-field release

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Cornell University,  Genetic Literacy Project,  2020.
A newly published study reports a successful, first-ever open-field release of a self-limiting, genetically engineered diamondback moth, stating that it paves the way for an effective and sustainable approach to pest control. The diamondback moth, also known as Plutella ...

Scientists have released genetically modified moths

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N. Kumar,  The Times Hub,  2020.
In the US, the researchers decided to test emerging from genetic modification Diamondback moth, placing it in field conditions. The work was conducted by experts from new York, representing Cornell University.

GM Insects on the Horizon

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E. Unglesbee,  Progressive Farmer,  2020.
Diamondback moths would do well to be wary of potential mates in the years to come. Scientists recently completed the first successful field testing of a genetically modified (GM) "self-limiting" insect in the U.S., using this species. When the GM male diamondback moths are ...

Male moths genetically modified to kill females released in the wild

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M. Le Page,  New Scientist,  2020.
Genetically modified male diamondback moths designed to wipe out pest populations have been released in New York state. The field trial shows that these GM moths, whose female offspring die soon after hatching, could help control this major crop pest. Oxitec, the British ...

First Field Release of a Genetically Engineered, Self-Limiting Agricultural Pest Insect: Evaluating Its Potential for Future Crop Protection

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A. M. Shelton, S. J. Long, A. S. Walker, M. Bolton, H. L. Collins, L. Revuelta, L. M. Johnson and N. I. Morrison,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  7:1-15. 2020.
Alternative, biologically-based approaches for pest management are sorely needed and one approach is to use genetically engineered insects. Herein we describe a series of integrated field, laboratory and modeling studies with the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, a serious ...

Identification and characterisation of a Masculinizer homolog in the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella

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Harvey-Samuel, T., V. C. Norman, R. Carter, E. Lovett and L. Alphey,  Insect Molecular Biology,  2019:2019. 2019.
Recently, a novel sex-determination system was identified in the silkworm (Bombyx mori) in which a piRNA encoded on the female-specific W chromosome silences a Z-linked gene (Masculinizer) which would otherwise initiate male sex-determination and dosage compensation. ...

Peri-Urban Community Attitudes towards Codling Moth Trapping and Suppression Using the Sterile Insect Technique in New Zealand

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G. Paterson, G. L. W. Perry, J. T. S. Walker and D. M. Suckling,  Insects,  10. 2019.
New, more socially-acceptable technologies are being developed to suppress horticultural pests, because suppression is technically difficult with current technologies, especially in urban areas. One technique involves the release of sterile insects to prevent offspring in the ...

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 ...