Abstract
Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) remains a major pest of olive fruit production worldwide. Current pest management programs largely depend on chemical insecticides, resulting in high economic and environmental costs. Alternative pest control approaches are therefore highly desirable. We have created a conditional female-specific self-limiting strain of B. oleae (OX3097D-Bol) that could be applied for sustainable pest control. OX3097D-Bol olive fly carries a fluorescent marker (DsRed2) for identification and a self-limiting genetic trait that is repressed by tetracycline. In the absence of tetracycline, the tetracycline transactivator (tTAV) accumulates, resulting in female death at larvae and early pupal stages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of genetically engineered OX3097D-Bol olive fly on three non-target organisms that either predate or parasitize olive flies, one from the guild of parasitoids (Psyttalia concolor) and two from the guild of predators (Pardosa spider species and the rove beetle Aleochara bilineata). No significant negative effect was observed on life history parameters, mortality and reproductive capacity of the non-target organisms studied. These results suggest that potential exposure to DsRed2 and tTAV gene products (e.g. mRNA and encoded proteins) would have a negligible impact on on-target organisms in the guilds or predators and parasitoids.
Highlights
The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a major agricultural pest of olive fruit production across the world
OX3097D-Bol contains a fluorescent protein marker gene (DsRed2) and a conditional female-specific self-limiting genetic trait which in the absence of tetracycline allows the accumulation of the tetracycline transactivator gene products resulting in female death at larval/pupal stages[7]
B. oleae is a major pest of olive fruit that is currently controlled through the application of chemical insecticides
Summary
The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a major agricultural pest of olive fruit production across the world. Current pest control programs rely heavily on chemical insecticides, which have high economic and environmental costs, but have resulted in the appearance of insecticide-resistant pest populations[2] These chemistries act on pests and affect beneficial insects. Alternative pest control methods, such as the sterile insect technique (SIT), have been previously described for olive fly[3]. We have generated a conditional female-specific self-limiting strain (OX3097D-Bol) of the olive fly B. oleae that could be used in pest control programs. Data from laboratory and greenhouse studies demonstrated that the release of OX3097D-Bol males could provide sustainable control of pest olive fly as they will mate with wild females and produce progeny that will die at larval and pupal stages[7]. Whilst the host is pupating, the parasitoid egg hatches and the parasitoid larvae feeds on the host, causing its death
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