Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies

Philip T. Leftwich; Martha Koukidou; Polychronis Rempoulakis; Hong-Fei Gong; Antogoni Zacharopoulou; Guoliang Fu; Tracey Chapman; Aris Economopoulos; John Vontas; Luke Alphey

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1372

Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies

Philip T. Leftwich, Martha Koukidou, Polychronis Rempoulakis, Hong-Fei Gong, Antogoni Zacharopoulou, Guoliang Fu, Tracey Chapman, Aris Economopoulos, John Vontas, Luke Alphey (Lead Author)

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Abstract

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) is a pest of over 300 fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a control measure used to reduce the reproductive potential of populations through the mass release of sterilized male insects that mate with wild females. However, SIT flies can display poor field performance, due to the effects of mass-rearing and of the irradiation process used for sterilization. The development of female-lethal RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal) strains for medfly can overcome many of the problems of SIT associated with irradiation. Here, we present life-history characterizations for two medfly RIDL strains, OX3864A and OX3647Q. Our results show (i) full functionality of RIDL, (ii) equivalency of RIDL and wild-type strains for life-history characteristics, and (iii) a high level of sexual competitiveness against both wild-type and wild-derived males. We also present the first proof-of-principle experiment on the use of RIDL to eliminate medfly populations. Weekly releases of OX3864A males into stable populations of wild-type medfly caused a successive decline in numbers, leading to eradication. The results show that genetic control can provide an effective alternative to SIT for the control of pest insects.

Original language	English
Article number	20141372
Journal	Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume	281
Issue number	1792
Early online date	13 Aug 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1372
Publication status	Published - 7 Oct 2014

Keywords

medfly
release of insects carrying a dominant lethal
sterile insect technique

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10.1098/rspb.2014.1372Licence: CC BY

Letfwich_etal_ProcB_2014
© 2014 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Tracey Chapman
- Tracey.Chapmanuea.acuk
- School of Biological Sciences - Professor of Evolutionary Genetics
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation - Member
- Organisms and the Environment - Member
Person: Research Group Member, Research Centre Member, Academic, Teaching & Research

Colonisation, domestication and population control in pest insects
Chapman, T., Hutchings, M., Leftwich, P. & Barber, K.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/10/12 → 30/09/15
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies",

abstract = "The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) is a pest of over 300 fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a control measure used to reduce the reproductive potential of populations through the mass release of sterilized male insects that mate with wild females. However, SIT flies can display poor field performance, due to the effects of mass-rearing and of the irradiation process used for sterilization. The development of female-lethal RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal) strains for medfly can overcome many of the problems of SIT associated with irradiation. Here, we present life-history characterizations for two medfly RIDL strains, OX3864A and OX3647Q. Our results show (i) full functionality of RIDL, (ii) equivalency of RIDL and wild-type strains for life-history characteristics, and (iii) a high level of sexual competitiveness against both wild-type and wild-derived males. We also present the first proof-of-principle experiment on the use of RIDL to eliminate medfly populations. Weekly releases of OX3864A males into stable populations of wild-type medfly caused a successive decline in numbers, leading to eradication. The results show that genetic control can provide an effective alternative to SIT for the control of pest insects.",

keywords = "medfly, release of insects carrying a dominant lethal, sterile insect technique",

author = "Leftwich, {Philip T.} and Martha Koukidou and Polychronis Rempoulakis and Hong-Fei Gong and Antogoni Zacharopoulou and Guoliang Fu and Tracey Chapman and Aris Economopoulos and John Vontas and Luke Alphey",

note = "This work was funded in part through a NERC open CASE PhD studentship to T.C. and to Oxitec Ltd. P.T.L. received financial support from Oxitec through the NERC open CASE studentship scheme. {\textcopyright} 2014 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. ",

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Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies. / Leftwich, Philip T.; Koukidou, Martha; Rempoulakis, Polychronis; Gong, Hong-Fei; Zacharopoulou, Antogoni; Fu, Guoliang; Chapman, Tracey; Economopoulos, Aris; Vontas, John; Alphey, Luke (Lead Author).

In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 281, No. 1792, 20141372, 07.10.2014.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Leftwich, Philip T.

AU - Koukidou, Martha

AU - Rempoulakis, Polychronis

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AU - Zacharopoulou, Antogoni

AU - Fu, Guoliang

AU - Chapman, Tracey

AU - Economopoulos, Aris

AU - Vontas, John

AU - Alphey, Luke

N1 - This work was funded in part through a NERC open CASE PhD studentship to T.C. and to Oxitec Ltd. P.T.L. received financial support from Oxitec through the NERC open CASE studentship scheme. © 2014 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

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N2 - The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) is a pest of over 300 fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a control measure used to reduce the reproductive potential of populations through the mass release of sterilized male insects that mate with wild females. However, SIT flies can display poor field performance, due to the effects of mass-rearing and of the irradiation process used for sterilization. The development of female-lethal RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal) strains for medfly can overcome many of the problems of SIT associated with irradiation. Here, we present life-history characterizations for two medfly RIDL strains, OX3864A and OX3647Q. Our results show (i) full functionality of RIDL, (ii) equivalency of RIDL and wild-type strains for life-history characteristics, and (iii) a high level of sexual competitiveness against both wild-type and wild-derived males. We also present the first proof-of-principle experiment on the use of RIDL to eliminate medfly populations. Weekly releases of OX3864A males into stable populations of wild-type medfly caused a successive decline in numbers, leading to eradication. The results show that genetic control can provide an effective alternative to SIT for the control of pest insects.

AB - The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) is a pest of over 300 fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a control measure used to reduce the reproductive potential of populations through the mass release of sterilized male insects that mate with wild females. However, SIT flies can display poor field performance, due to the effects of mass-rearing and of the irradiation process used for sterilization. The development of female-lethal RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal) strains for medfly can overcome many of the problems of SIT associated with irradiation. Here, we present life-history characterizations for two medfly RIDL strains, OX3864A and OX3647Q. Our results show (i) full functionality of RIDL, (ii) equivalency of RIDL and wild-type strains for life-history characteristics, and (iii) a high level of sexual competitiveness against both wild-type and wild-derived males. We also present the first proof-of-principle experiment on the use of RIDL to eliminate medfly populations. Weekly releases of OX3864A males into stable populations of wild-type medfly caused a successive decline in numbers, leading to eradication. The results show that genetic control can provide an effective alternative to SIT for the control of pest insects.

KW - medfly

KW - release of insects carrying a dominant lethal

KW - sterile insect technique

U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2014.1372

DO - 10.1098/rspb.2014.1372

M3 - Article

VL - 281

JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8452

IS - 1792

M1 - 20141372

ER -

Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies

Abstract

Keywords

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Profiles

Tracey Chapman

Projects

Colonisation, domestication and population control in pest insects

Cite this