Keywords: Spodoptera

Male-killing virus leads to more female moths

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 ...
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Male-killing virus in a noctuid moth Spodoptera litura

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, ...
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New tech fights fall armyworm by letting offspring die

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

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 ...
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British Firm Develops ‘Friendly’ Fall Armyworm To Save Crops

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 ...
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Armyworm meets Friendly moth

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 ...
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Oxitec Receives Landmark Biosafety Approval for New Fall Armyworm Control Solution

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 ...
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Can a Genetically Modified Bug Combat a Global Farm Plague?

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.
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