Exploring genetic, molecular, mechanical and behavioural methods of sex separation in mosquitoes

Joint FAO/IAEA Coordinated Research Project on “Exploring genetic, molecular, mechanical and behavioural methods of sex separation in mosquitoes” – an introduction

Authors: Kostas Bourtzis and Zhijian Jake Tu

Molecular tools and genetic markers for the generation of transgenic sexing strains in Anopheline mosquitoes

Malaria is a serious global health burden, affecting more than 200 million people each year in over 90 countries, predominantly in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Since the year 2000, a concerted effort to comb...

Authors: Federica Bernardini, Roya Elaine Haghighat-Khah, Roberto Galizi, Andrew Marc Hammond, Tony Nolan and Andrea Crisanti

Cytoplasmic incompatibility management to support Incompatible Insect Technique against Aedes albopictus

The transinfection of the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia provides a method to produce functionally sterile males to be used to suppress mosquito vectors. ARwP is a wPip Wolbachia infected Aedes albopictus whic...

Authors: Riccardo Moretti, Giuseppe Augusto Marzo, Elena Lampazzi and Maurizio Calvitti

Molecular tools to create new strains for mosquito sexing and vector control

Vector control programs based on population reduction by matings with mass-released sterile insects require the release of only male mosquitoes, as the release of females, even if sterile, would increase the n...

Authors: Irina Häcker and Marc F. Schetelig

Functional analysis of the promoter of an early zygotic gene KLC2 in Aedes aegypti

Aedes aegypti is an important mosquito vector that transmits arboviruses that cause devastating diseases including Zika, dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya. Improved understanding of gene regulation in th...

Authors: Wanqi Hu and Zhijian Jake Tu

Effects of stable ectopic expression of the primary sex determination gene Yob in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, are controlled primarily by suppressing mosquito vector populations using insecticides. The current control programmes are seriously threatened by the emergence and ra...

Authors: Elzbieta Krzywinska and Jaroslaw Krzywinski

Construction of a genetic sexing strain for Aedes albopictus: a promising tool for the development of sterilizing insect control strategies targeting the tiger mosquito

Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito species of global medical concern as its distribution has recently expanded to Africa, the Americas and Europe. In the absence of prophylaxis protecting human populations ...

Authors: Cyrille Lebon, Aude Benlali, Célestine Atyame, Patrick Mavingui and Pablo Tortosa

Exploring protandry and pupal size selection for Aedes albopictus sex separation

We explored the possibility to improve male/female separation (sexing) in Aedes albopictus by selection of two strains, one toward increasing sex dimorphism and another toward increasing protandry. In the laborat...

Authors: Romeo Bellini, Arianna Puggioli, Fabrizio Balestrino, Marco Carrieri and Sandra Urbanelli

Combined sterile insect technique and incompatible insect technique: sex separation and quality of sterile Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes released in a pilot population suppression trial in Thailand

The sterile insect technique (SIT), which is based on irradiation-induced sterility, and incompatible insect technique (IIT), which is based on Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility (a kind of male steril...

Authors: Patttamaporn Kittayapong, Nuanla-ong Kaeothaisong, Suwannapa Ninphanomchai and Wanitch Limohpasmanee

The Nix locus on the male-specific homologue of chromosome 1 in Aedes albopictus is a strong candidate for a male-determining factor

Global concern over the rapid expansion of the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and its vector competence has highlighted an urgent need to improve currently available population control methods, like the ...

Authors: Ludvik M. Gomulski, Marina Mariconti, Alessandro Di Cosimo, Francesca Scolari, Mosè Manni, Grazia Savini, Anna R. Malacrida and Giuliano Gasperi

Isolation and characterization of a temperature-sensitive lethal strain of Anopheles arabiensis for SIT-based application

Malaria is still a global health problem and vector control is the cornerstone of disease control strategies using indoor residual insecticide spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated nets. The situation is becomin...

Authors: Cyrille Ndo, Yacouba Poumachu, Danale Metitsi, Herman Parfait Awono-Ambene, Timoléon Tchuinkam, Jeremie Lionnel Roger Gilles and Kostas Bourtzis

Sex determination and Aedes population control

The global economic cost of Aedes-borne diseases, such as dengue, is estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually. In this scenario, a sustained vector control strategy is the only alternative to control d...

Authors: Helena Rocha Corrêa de Araújo, Bianca Burini Kojin and Margareth Lara Capurro

A transgenic tool to assess Anopheles mating competitiveness in the field

Malaria parasites, transmitted by the bite of an anopheline mosquito, pose an immense public health burden on many tropical and subtropical regions. The most important malaria vectors in sub-Saharan Africa are...

Authors: Andrea L. Smidler, Sean N. Scott, Enzo Mameli, W. Robert Shaw and Flaminia Catteruccia

A review on the progress of sex-separation techniques for sterile insect technique applications against Anopheles arabiensis

The feasibility of the sterile insect technique (SIT) as a malaria vector control strategy against Anopheles arabiensis has been under investigation over the past decade. One of the critical steps required for th...

Authors: Thabo Mashatola, Cyrille Ndo, Lizette L. Koekemoer, Leonard C. Dandalo, Oliver R. Wood, Lerato Malakoane, Yacouba Poumachu, Leanne N. Lobb, Maria Kaiser, Kostas Bourtzis and Givemore Munhenga

Pure early zygotic genes in the Asian malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi

The Asian malaria mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is a major urban malaria vector in the Middle East and on the Indian subcontinent. Early zygotic transcription, which marks the maternal-to-zygotic transition, has...

Authors: Yang Wu, Wanqi Hu, James K. Biedler, Xiao-Guang Chen and Zhijian Jake Tu

Exploring the potential of computer vision analysis of pupae size dimorphism for adaptive sex sorting systems of various vector mosquito species

Several mosquito population suppression strategies based on the rearing and release of sterile males have provided promising results. However, the lack of an efficient male selection method has hampered the ex...

Authors: Mario Zacarés, Gustavo Salvador-Herranz, David Almenar, Carles Tur, Rafael Argilés, Kostas Bourtzis, Hervé Bossin and Ignacio Pla

A perspective on the need and current status of efficient sex separation methods for mosquito genetic control

Major efforts are currently underway to develop novel, complementary methods to combat mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquito genetic control strategies (GCSs) have become an increasingly important area of research...

Authors: Philippos Aris Papathanos, Kostas Bourtzis, Frederic Tripet, Hervé Bossin, Jair Fernandes Virginio, Margareth Lara Capurro, Michelle Cristine Pedrosa, Amadou Guindo, Lakamy Sylla, Mamadou B. Coulibaly, Franck Adama Yao, Patric Stephane Epopa and Abdoulaye Diabate