Abstract
BackgroundArea-wide integrated pest management programs (AW-IPM) incorporating sterile insect technique (SIT) have been successful in suppressing populations of different fruit fly species during the last six decades. In addition, the development of genetic sexing strains (GSS) for different fruit fly species has allowed for sterile male-only releases and has significantly improved the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the SIT applications. The South American Fruit Fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major agricultural pest attacking several fruit commodities. This impedes international trade and has a significant negative impact on the local economies. Given the importance of sterile male-only releases, the development of a GSS for A. fraterculus would facilitate the implementation of an efficient and cost-effective SIT operational program against this insect pest species.ResultsFor potential use in a GSS, three new morphological markers (mutants) were isolated in a laboratory strain of A. fraterculus sp. 1, including the black pupae (bp) gene located on chromosome VI. The black pupa phenotype was used as a selectable marker to develop genetic sexing strains by linking the wild type allele (bp+) to the Y-chromosome -via irradiation to induce a reciprocal Y-autosome translocation. Four GSS were established and one of them, namely GSS-89, showed the best genetic stability and the highest fertility. This strain was selected for further characterization and cytogenetic analysis.ConclusionsWe herein report the development of the first genetic sexing strain of a major agricultural pest, A. fraterculus sp. 1, using as a selectable marker the black pupae genetic locus.
Highlights
Area-wide integrated pest management programs (AW-IPM) incorporating sterile insect technique (SIT) have been successful in suppressing populations of different fruit fly species during the last six decades
The black pupae phenotype was characterized by the black color of the pupae as well as the very dark color and wing veins at the adult stage compared to the wild type phenotype (Fig. 1a and b)
Given that only the black pupae phenotype was expressed in an early developmental stage, the bp locus was chosen as a selectable marker for the development of a pupal colorbased genetic sexing strain in A. fraterculus sp. 1
Summary
Area-wide integrated pest management programs (AW-IPM) incorporating sterile insect technique (SIT) have been successful in suppressing populations of different fruit fly species during the last six decades. The development of genetic sexing strains (GSS) for different fruit fly species has allowed for sterile maleonly releases and has significantly improved the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the SIT applications. The South American Fruit Fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major agricultural pest attacking several fruit commodities. This impedes international trade and has a significant negative impact on the local economies. Given the importance of sterile male-only releases, the development of a GSS for A. fraterculus would facilitate the implementation of an efficient and cost-effective SIT operational program against this insect pest species. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a species-specific and environmentally friendly genetic method to control populations of major insect pests. After the application of an appropriated scheme of crosses and backcrosses, it is possible to identify individuals that have the dominant wild type allele pseudo-linked to the Y-chromosome, yielding a strain that produces males with the wild type phenotype and mutant females [4,5,6,7,8]
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