Irvin Nic, Hoddle Mark S, O'Brochta David A, Carey Bryan, Atkinson Peter W
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Jan 20;101(3):891-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0305511101. Epub 2004 Jan 7.
The development of transgenic mosquitoes that are refractory to the transmission of human diseases such as malaria, dengue, and yellow fever has received much interest due to the ability to transform a number of vector mosquito species with transposable elements. Transgenic strains of mosquitoes have been generated with molecular techniques that exhibit a reduced capacity to transmit pathogens. These advancements have led to questions regarding the fitness of transgenic mosquitoes and the ability of transformed mosquitoes to compete and effectively spread beneficial genes through nontransformed field populations, the core requirement of a genetically based control strategy aimed at reducing the spread of mosquito-borne human disease. Here we examine the impact of transgenesis on the fitness of Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that transmits yellow fever. Mosquitoes were altered with two types of transgene, the enhanced GFP gene and two transposase genes from the Hermes and MOS1 transposable elements. We examined the effects of these elements on the survivorship, longevity, fecundity, sex ratio, and sterility of transformed mosquitoes and compared results to the nontransformed laboratory strain. We show that demographic parameters are significantly diminished in transgenic mosquitoes relative to the untransformed laboratory strain. Reduced fitness in transgenic mosquitoes has important implications for the development and utilization of this technology for control programs based on manipulative molecular modification.
由于能够利用转座元件转化多种病媒蚊子物种，培育对疟疾、登革热和黄热病等人类疾病传播具有抗性的转基因蚊子受到了广泛关注。利用分子技术已经培育出了转基因蚊子品系，这些品系传播病原体的能力有所降低。这些进展引发了关于转基因蚊子适应性以及转化后的蚊子与未转化的野外种群竞争并有效传播有益基因的能力的问题，而这是旨在减少蚊媒人类疾病传播的基于基因的控制策略的核心要求。在此，我们研究了转基因对埃及伊蚊（一种传播黄热病的蚊子）适应性的影响。用两种类型的转基因对蚊子进行了改造，即增强型绿色荧光蛋白基因以及来自赫耳墨斯（Hermes）和MOS1转座元件的两种转座酶基因。我们研究了这些元件对转化蚊子的存活率、寿命、繁殖力、性别比例和不育性的影响，并将结果与未转化的实验室品系进行了比较。我们发现，与未转化的实验室品系相比，转基因蚊子的人口统计学参数显著降低。转基因蚊子适应性的降低对于基于操纵性分子修饰的控制计划中该技术的开发和利用具有重要意义。
