Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria.
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, South Kensington Campus, London, UK.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 27;13(1):16167. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43164-0.
Genetic sexing strains (GSS), such as the Ceratitis capitata (medfly) VIENNA 8 strain, facilitate male-only releases and improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of sterile insect technique (SIT) applications. Laboratory domestication may reduce their genetic diversity and mating behaviour and hence, refreshment with wild genetic material is frequently needed. As wild males do not carry the T(Y;A) translocation, and wild females do not easily conform to artificial oviposition, the genetic refreshment of this GSS is a challenging and time-consuming process. In the present study, we report the development of a novel medfly GSS, which is based on a viable homozygous T(XX;AA) translocation using the same selectable markers, the white pupae and temperature-sensitive lethal genes. This allows the en masse cross of T(XX;AA) females with wild males, and the backcrossing of F males with the T(XX;AA) females thus facilitating the re-establishment of the GSS as well as its genetic refreshment. The rearing efficiency and mating competitiveness of the novel GSS are similar to those of the T(Y;A)-based VIENNA 8 GSS. However, its advantage to easily allow the genetic refreshment is of great importance as it can ensure the mass production of high-quality males and enhanced efficacy of operational SIT programs.
遗传性别鉴定品系（GSS），如地中海实蝇（medfly）VIENNA 8 品系，有利于只释放雄性，并提高不育昆虫技术（SIT）应用的效率和成本效益。实验室驯化可能会降低其遗传多样性和交配行为，因此，经常需要用野生遗传物质进行更新。由于野生雄性不携带 T(Y;A)易位，而野生雌性不容易进行人工产卵，因此，这种 GSS 的遗传更新是一个具有挑战性和耗时的过程。在本研究中，我们报告了一种新型地中海实蝇 GSS 的开发，该品系基于相同的可选择标记，即白色蛹和温度敏感致死基因，使用可行的纯合 T(XX;AA)易位。这允许 T(XX;AA)雌性与野生雄性大规模杂交，并使 F 雄性与 T(XX;AA)雌性回交，从而有利于 GSS 的重建及其遗传更新。新型 GSS 的饲养效率和交配竞争力与基于 T(Y;A)的 VIENNA 8 GSS 相似。然而，其易于进行遗传更新的优势非常重要，因为它可以确保高质量雄性的大规模生产，并增强运营 SIT 计划的效果。
