Davydova Serafima, Liu Junru, Liu Yiran, Prince Kavya, Mann Jonathan, Kandul Nikolay P, Braswell W Evan, Champer Jackson, Akbari Omar S, Meccariello Angela
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2 AZ, UK.
School of Biological Sciences, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA.
BMC Biol. 2025 Apr 12;23(1):97. doi: 10.1186/s12915-025-02201-2.
Genetic biocontrol systems have broad applications in population control of insects implicated in both disease spread and food security. Ceratitis capitata (the Mediterranean fruit fly), a major agricultural pest with a global distribution, is one of the appealing targets for such genetic control.
In this study, we establish and characterise a novel split-CRISPR/Cas9 system we term Sex Conversion Induced by CRISPR (SCIC) in C. capitata. Using the white eye gene for toolkit selection we achieved up to 100% CRISPR/Cas9 efficiency, displaying the feasibility of C. capitata split-CRISPR/Cas9 systems using constitutive promoters. We then induce sex conversion by targeting the transformer gene in a SCIC approach aimed for SIT-mediated releases upon radiation-based sterilisation. Knock-out of transformer induced partial to full female-to-male sex conversion, with the remaining individuals all being intersex and sterile. SCIC population modelling shows a strong potential to outcompete traditional SIT, allowing for faster population elimination with fewer released sterile males.
Overall, we construct an appropriate CRISPR/Cas9 toolkit for the use in C capitata. Our results build the foundation for further genetic pest control methods in the species and related tephritid agricultural pests.
遗传生物防治系统在控制与疾病传播和粮食安全相关的昆虫种群方面具有广泛应用。地中海实蝇（Ceratitis capitata）是一种分布于全球的主要农业害虫，是这种遗传控制的有吸引力的目标之一。
在本研究中，我们在C. capitata中建立并表征了一种新型的分裂CRISPR/Cas9系统，我们将其称为CRISPR诱导的性别转换（SCIC）。使用白眼基因进行工具选择，我们实现了高达100%的CRISPR/Cas9效率，展示了使用组成型启动子的C. capitata分裂CRISPR/Cas9系统的可行性。然后，我们通过在一种旨在基于辐射绝育后进行昆虫不育技术（SIT）介导释放的SCIC方法中靶向transformer基因来诱导性别转换。transformer基因的敲除诱导了部分到完全的雌性向雄性的性别转换，其余个体均为雌雄同体且不育。SCIC种群模型显示出比传统SIT更具优势的强大潜力，允许用更少的释放不育雄性更快地消除种群。
总体而言，我们构建了一个适用于C. capitata的CRISPR/Cas9工具包。我们的结果为该物种及相关实蝇科农业害虫的进一步遗传害虫控制方法奠定了基础。
