Insect Population Control Using a Dominant, Repressible, Lethal Genetic System

TLDR

The authors modify the sterile insect technique by using transgenic insects homozygous for a dominant, repressible, female‑specific lethal gene system. They present two genetic systems: one employs a sex‑specific promoter/enhancer to drive a repressible transcription factor that regulates a toxic gene, and the other uses non‑sex‑specific expression of the same transcription factor to control a selectively lethal gene. Both methods successfully generate the required genetic traits in a wild‑type background and function efficiently in *Drosophila melanogaster*, indicating potential applicability to other economically important species.

Abstract

A major modification to the sterile insect technique is described, in which transgenic insects homozygous for a dominant, repressible, female-specific lethal gene system are used. We demonstrate two methods that give the required genetic characteristics in an otherwise wild-type genetic background. The first system uses a sex-specific promoter or enhancer to drive the expression of a repressible transcription factor, which in turn controls the expression of a toxic gene product. The second system uses non–sex-specific expression of the repressible transcription factor to regulate a selectively lethal gene product. Both methods work efficiently in Drosophila melanogaster , and we expect these principles to be widely applicable to more economically important organisms .