Abstract
BackgroundSterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been successfully implemented to control, and in some cases, eradicate, dipteran insect populations. SIT has great potential as a mosquito control method. Different sterilization methods have been used on mosquitoes ranging from chemosterilization to genetically modified sterile male mosquito strains; however, sterilization with ionizing radiation is the method of choice for effective sterilization of male insects for most species. The lack of gentle radiation methods has resulted in significant complications when SIT has been applied to mosquitoes. Several studies report that irradiating mosquitoes resulted in a decrease in longevity and mating success compared to unirradiated males.The present study explored new protocols for mosquito sterilization with ionizing radiation that minimized detrimental effects on the longevity of irradiated males.MethodsWe tested three compounds that have been shown to act as radioprotectors in the mouse model system - ethanol, trimethylglycine, and beer. Male Aedes aegypti were treated with one of three chosen potential radioprotectors and were subsequently irradiated with identical doses of long-wavelength X-rays. We evaluated the effect of these radioprotectors on the longevity of male mosquito after irradiation.ResultsWe found that X-ray irradiation with an absorbed dose of 1.17 gy confers complete sterility. Irradiation with this dose significantly shortened the lifespan of male mosquitoes and all three radioprotectors tested significantly enhanced the lifespan of irradiated mosquito males.ConclusionOur results suggest that treatment with ethanol, beer, or trimethylglycine before irradiation can be used to enhance longevity in mosquitoes.
Highlights
Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been successfully implemented to control, and in some cases, eradicate, dipteran insect populations
We evaluated the effect of these three potential radioprotectors on the survival of male Aedes aegypti, Yellow Fever mosquitoes, after X-ray irradiation
The effect of ethanol on mosquito survival To measure the effect of long-term exposure to ethanol on the lifespan of male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes we evaluated the survival curves of groups of unirradiated mosquito males that were kept with 20% sucrose solution containing varying concentrations of ethanol for their complete adult life
Summary
Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been successfully implemented to control, and in some cases, eradicate, dipteran insect populations. Different sterilization methods have been used on mosquitoes ranging from chemosterilization to genetically modified sterile male mosquito strains; sterilization with ionizing radiation is the method of choice for effective sterilization of male insects for most species. The present study explored new protocols for mosquito sterilization with ionizing radiation that minimized detrimental effects on the longevity of irradiated males. The development of genetically modified mosquitoes and subsequent genetic control methods such as RIDL (Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal gene), have reawakened the interest in mosquito SIT in the last decade [9,10,11,12]. The availability of commercial X-ray sterilization machines [13] makes sterilization using ionizing radiation much more affordable and independent of radioisotope based radiation sources that require extensive safety and disposal measures [14]
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