Pub Date : 2025-10-27DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101456
Gordana Rašić , John M Marshall
Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major global health burden, and novel biocontrol tools are quickly advancing from the laboratory to the field. Mathematical models play a central role in evaluating these interventions, yet their predictive accuracy depends on robust parameterization. Population genomics presents a powerful opportunity to address this challenge. Here, we review progress at the interface between mosquito genomics and biocontrol modeling, highlighting how genomic data have informed our understanding of mosquito population structure, standing genetic variation at gene drive target sites, and sources of resurgence for suppressed populations. We also discuss frontiers, including new approaches to quantifying gene flow, mating behaviors, and inbreeding depression, all of which shape intervention outcomes. By tapping this potential to better quantify our understanding of mosquito ecology, modelers can develop context-specific models with better predictive accuracy, supporting efficacy and risk assessment, design of field trials and interventions, and promotion of regulation and public trust.
{"title":"Integrating mosquito genomics into simulation modeling: opportunities for better-informed biocontrol","authors":"Gordana Rašić , John M Marshall","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101456","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101456","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major global health burden, and novel biocontrol tools are quickly advancing from the laboratory to the field. Mathematical models play a central role in evaluating these interventions, yet their predictive accuracy depends on robust parameterization. Population genomics presents a powerful opportunity to address this challenge. Here, we review progress at the interface between mosquito genomics and biocontrol modeling, highlighting how genomic data have informed our understanding of mosquito population structure, standing genetic variation at gene drive target sites, and sources of resurgence for suppressed populations. We also discuss frontiers, including new approaches to quantifying gene flow, mating behaviors, and inbreeding depression, all of which shape intervention outcomes. By tapping this potential to better quantify our understanding of mosquito ecology, modelers can develop context-specific models with better predictive accuracy, supporting efficacy and risk assessment, design of field trials and interventions, and promotion of regulation and public trust.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101456"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145399952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-18DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101454
Alexis L Kriete , Maxwell J Scott
Conditional female-to-male sex conversion systems are promising tools for improving the Sterile Insect Technique, an environmentally-friendly form of genetic pest control. In recent years, several conditional sex conversion systems, employing various effector genes and gene expression techniques, have been designed and evaluated in diverse insect species. While no system described thus far is ready for real-world use, valuable insight into insect physiology and sex determination has been gained. Additional basic research on insect sex determination mechanisms, particularly dosage compensation, coupled with increasingly flexible and powerful tools for gene expression and editing, should enable researchers to improve existing sex conversion systems, as well as to develop new systems in non-model insect pests.
{"title":"Conditional sex conversion systems for improved control of insect pests","authors":"Alexis L Kriete , Maxwell J Scott","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101454","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101454","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conditional female-to-male sex conversion systems are promising tools for improving the Sterile Insect Technique, an environmentally-friendly form of genetic pest control. In recent years, several conditional sex conversion systems, employing various effector genes and gene expression techniques, have been designed and evaluated in diverse insect species. While no system described thus far is ready for real-world use, valuable insight into insect physiology and sex determination has been gained. Additional basic research on insect sex determination mechanisms, particularly dosage compensation, coupled with increasingly flexible and powerful tools for gene expression and editing, should enable researchers to improve existing sex conversion systems, as well as to develop new systems in non-model insect pests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101454"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145336702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The limitations of chemical pesticides and their associated risks highlight the need for more sustainable pest management strategies. Biological control using natural enemies offers an eco-friendly alternative but is sometimes constrained by efficiency and scalability. Emerging molecular tools—RNA interference (RNAi) and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based gene editing—present novel opportunities to enhance existing biological control or to control pests directly. RNAi induces targeted gene knockdown via a non-heritable, transient response. CRISPR enables precise genetic modifications and could improve traits in beneficial insects or disrupt essential genes in pests, optionally including a gene drive for increased power. Although limitations remain for several species, these technologies could be valuable tools for integrated pest management. Their future implementation raises biosafety and regulatory considerations, particularly for self-propagating systems like gene drives. This review showcases developments in RNAi and CRISPR-based pest control, and calls for risk-based, adaptive governance to enable their responsible use in sustainable agriculture.
{"title":"Leveraging advances in RNAi and CRISPR for improved biological pest control","authors":"Nicky R. Faber , Karuppannasamy Ashok , Thiruvengadam Venkatesan , Bregje Wertheim , Mariana Bulgarella","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The limitations of chemical pesticides and their associated risks highlight the need for more sustainable pest management strategies. Biological control using natural enemies offers an eco-friendly alternative but is sometimes constrained by efficiency and scalability. Emerging molecular tools—RNA interference (RNAi) and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based gene editing—present novel opportunities to enhance existing biological control or to control pests directly. RNAi induces targeted gene knockdown via a non-heritable, transient response. CRISPR enables precise genetic modifications and could improve traits in beneficial insects or disrupt essential genes in pests, optionally including a gene drive for increased power. Although limitations remain for several species, these technologies could be valuable tools for integrated pest management. Their future implementation raises biosafety and regulatory considerations, particularly for self-propagating systems like gene drives. This review showcases developments in RNAi and CRISPR-based pest control, and calls for risk-based, adaptive governance to enable their responsible use in sustainable agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101453"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145328218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101452
Cécile Courret, Catherine Montchamp-Moreau, Richard Cordaux, Clément Gilbert
Meiotic drive systems are selfish genetic elements that subvert Mendelian inheritance in favor of their own transmission, often at the expense of host fitness. These elements can lead to profound evolutionary consequences by instigating genetic conflicts, particularly on sex chromosomes, where they frequently reside. Their preferential transmission can distort sex ratios and impact the fertility of carriers, triggering the rapid evolution of suppressor elements, resulting in an evolutionary arms race. This review highlights the dynamic interplay between meiotic drive and sex chromosome evolution, noting that drivers are often linked to recombination-suppressed regions and may catalyze chromosomal divergence and even speciation. Additionally, meiotic drivers can influence reproductive traits and sexual selection. They can reduce male fertility by destroying specific gametes, prompting compensatory adaptations. The reciprocal influence of sexual selection and reproductive behavior on driver frequency underscores the complex nature of this interaction. Though drivers can promote speciation by fixing incompatibilities or facilitating chromosomal rearrangements, they may also act as a stabilizing force, preserving ancestral karyotypes and delaying reproductive isolation. Ultimately, meiotic drive represents a potent evolutionary force shaping genome structure, reproduction, and diversification. Future work integrating molecular, ecological, and evolutionary frameworks is crucial to elucidate the multifaceted roles of meiotic drive across taxa.
{"title":"An intricate evolutionary connection between meiotic drive and sex","authors":"Cécile Courret, Catherine Montchamp-Moreau, Richard Cordaux, Clément Gilbert","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101452","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101452","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Meiotic drive systems are selfish genetic elements that subvert Mendelian inheritance in favor of their own transmission, often at the expense of host fitness. These elements can lead to profound evolutionary consequences by instigating genetic conflicts, particularly on sex chromosomes, where they frequently reside. Their preferential transmission can distort sex ratios and impact the fertility of carriers, triggering the rapid evolution of suppressor elements, resulting in an evolutionary arms race. This review highlights the dynamic interplay between meiotic drive and sex chromosome evolution, noting that drivers are often linked to recombination-suppressed regions and may catalyze chromosomal divergence and even speciation. Additionally, meiotic drivers can influence reproductive traits and sexual selection. They can reduce male fertility by destroying specific gametes, prompting compensatory adaptations. The reciprocal influence of sexual selection and reproductive behavior on driver frequency underscores the complex nature of this interaction. Though drivers can promote speciation by fixing incompatibilities or facilitating chromosomal rearrangements, they may also act as a stabilizing force, preserving ancestral karyotypes and delaying reproductive isolation. Ultimately, meiotic drive represents a potent evolutionary force shaping genome structure, reproduction, and diversification. Future work integrating molecular, ecological, and evolutionary frameworks is crucial to elucidate the multifaceted roles of meiotic drive across taxa.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101452"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145312535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101451
Charlotte Lécureuil , Laura Pasquier , Joël Meunier
Global insect populations are declining at an alarming rate, threatening biodiversity and the ecosystem services on which humans depend. One potential driver of this decline is the alteration of key biological functions, including parental care, by anthropogenic factors such as chemical pollution and exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). This review synthesizes current knowledge on how EDCs may affect insect parental care, highlighting major gaps and opportunities for research. We first discuss the taxonomic bias in EDC research and its implications for understanding insect susceptibility. We then summarize what is known about the hormonal regulation of insect parental care, emphasizing that current knowledge is limited to a few species, a few behaviors, and primarily juvenile hormone. Next, we examine the sparse evidence for direct or indirect effects of chemical pollutants on parental behaviors. Finally, we propose five research priorities to elucidate the interplay between EDC exposure, hormonal regulation, and parental care in insects: clarifying hormonal mechanisms, applying unbiased -omics approaches combined with functional analyses, identifying EDCs most likely to disrupt care, expanding taxonomic and behavioral coverage, and linking individual-level effects to population outcomes. Addressing these priorities is timely to establish causal links between hormones, behavior, and pollutants, providing essential insights to predict and mitigate the impacts of EDCs on insect populations, ecosystem functioning, and evolutionary dynamics.
{"title":"Hormonal regulation of parental care in insects: a call for exploring vulnerabilities to anthropogenic pollutants","authors":"Charlotte Lécureuil , Laura Pasquier , Joël Meunier","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101451","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101451","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global insect populations are declining at an alarming rate, threatening biodiversity and the ecosystem services on which humans depend. One potential driver of this decline is the alteration of key biological functions, including parental care, by anthropogenic factors such as chemical pollution and exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). This review synthesizes current knowledge on how EDCs may affect insect parental care, highlighting major gaps and opportunities for research. We first discuss the taxonomic bias in EDC research and its implications for understanding insect susceptibility. We then summarize what is known about the hormonal regulation of insect parental care, emphasizing that current knowledge is limited to a few species, a few behaviors, and primarily juvenile hormone. Next, we examine the sparse evidence for direct or indirect effects of chemical pollutants on parental behaviors. Finally, we propose five research priorities to elucidate the interplay between EDC exposure, hormonal regulation, and parental care in insects: clarifying hormonal mechanisms, applying unbiased -omics approaches combined with functional analyses, identifying EDCs most likely to disrupt care, expanding taxonomic and behavioral coverage, and linking individual-level effects to population outcomes. Addressing these priorities is timely to establish causal links between hormones, behavior, and pollutants, providing essential insights to predict and mitigate the impacts of EDCs on insect populations, ecosystem functioning, and evolutionary dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101451"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101441
Kristof De Schutter
Protein glycosylation, or the modification of proteins with carbohydrate structures, is a fundamental post-translational modification that plays a pivotal role in the biology of insects. Glycans influence multiple physiological processes, including development, immunity, cell attachment, and intercellular communication by modulating the stability, localization, and activity of the proteins they decorate. While the general principles of glycosylation are conserved throughout eukaryotes, insects possess a distinct repertoire of glycan structures. This review provides a comprehensive overview of glycosylation in insects, beginning with the glycosylation pathways and the enzymatic machinery involved. Subsequently, the unique structural features and diversity compared to other taxa are discussed. Special attention is given to microvariations in glycan composition and structure at the cellular, tissue, and organismal levels, revealing dynamic regulation and context-dependent expression. Finally, we discuss the functional implications of glycosylation in insects. Together, these insights underscore the complexity and biological significance of glycosylation in insect physiology and open avenues for future research in glycobiology and insect biotechnology.
{"title":"Protein glycosylation in insects: types, functions, and variation","authors":"Kristof De Schutter","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101441","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101441","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Protein glycosylation, or the modification of proteins with carbohydrate structures, is a fundamental post-translational modification that plays a pivotal role in the biology of insects. Glycans influence multiple physiological processes, including development, immunity, cell attachment, and intercellular communication by modulating the stability, localization, and activity of the proteins they decorate. While the general principles of glycosylation are conserved throughout eukaryotes, insects possess a distinct repertoire of glycan structures. This review provides a comprehensive overview of glycosylation in insects, beginning with the glycosylation pathways and the enzymatic machinery involved. Subsequently, the unique structural features and diversity compared to other taxa are discussed. Special attention is given to microvariations in glycan composition and structure at the cellular, tissue, and organismal levels, revealing dynamic regulation and context-dependent expression. Finally, we discuss the functional implications of glycosylation in insects. Together, these insights underscore the complexity and biological significance of glycosylation in insect physiology and open avenues for future research in glycobiology and insect biotechnology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101441"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145273948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Agricultural production is primarily constrained by biotic stresses, with insect pests being the most significant contributors. Effective pest management is essential for sustainable crop protection and relies on understanding how plants interact with pests (herbivores), their natural enemies (predators and parasitoids), other plants, and beneficial organisms such as pollinators. These interactions, which are also frequently influenced by microorganisms, collectively referred to as multitrophic interactions, play a crucial role in shaping agroecosystems. Recent research highlights that in agricultural systems, multitrophic interactions are primarily mediated by volatile organic compounds and other specialized metabolites through microbial activity. A deeper understanding of these chemically mediated mechanisms in pest, natural enemy, and pollinator attraction/repellence, and plant defense priming, offers new opportunities for developing ecologically sustainable pest management strategies. This review aims to synthesize emerging evidence on the role of plant- and microbial-derived specialized metabolites in mediating multitrophic interactions and potential applications for crop protection. It also identifies knowledge gaps and explores how recent advances are shaping the development of innovative crop protection technologies.
{"title":"Chemically mediated multitrophic interactions and their role in crop protection","authors":"Baldwyn Torto , Ruth Kihika-Opanda , Fathiya Khamis","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101440","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101440","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural production is primarily constrained by biotic stresses, with insect pests being the most significant contributors. Effective pest management is essential for sustainable crop protection and relies on understanding how plants interact with pests (herbivores), their natural enemies (predators and parasitoids), other plants, and beneficial organisms such as pollinators. These interactions, which are also frequently influenced by microorganisms, collectively referred to as multitrophic interactions, play a crucial role in shaping agroecosystems. Recent research highlights that in agricultural systems, multitrophic interactions are primarily mediated by volatile organic compounds and other specialized metabolites through microbial activity. A deeper understanding of these chemically mediated mechanisms in pest, natural enemy, and pollinator attraction/repellence, and plant defense priming, offers new opportunities for developing ecologically sustainable pest management strategies. This review aims to synthesize emerging evidence on the role of plant- and microbial-derived specialized metabolites in mediating multitrophic interactions and potential applications for crop protection. It also identifies knowledge gaps and explores how recent advances are shaping the development of innovative crop protection technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101440"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145174139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-23DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101439
Maxwell J Scott , Zhijian Tu
Genetic biocontrol is an increasingly important way to suppress insect pest populations and to mitigate their economic and health impact. One key advantage is that it is species-specific, as it relies on the mating of released males with wild females to either suppress or modify populations. The latter is through rendering females incompetent at disease transmission. Sex separation is critical to ensure the efficiency of these control programs, and it is essential in the case of vector control to avoid releasing females that can transmit pathogens. Modern genetic methods provide the opportunity to target or manipulate components of the sex determination systems to facilitate genetic biocontrol with new means to effectively accomplish sex-specific selection, lethality, or sterility. For example, sex-specific splicing elements in genes in the sex determination pathway are used to produce sex-specific markers. Sex-linked recessive lethal alleles are used to differentially eliminate the transgene-marked sex chromosome from males to produce nontransgenic males. Knocking out or knocking down sex-specific isoforms of genes in the sex determination pathway is employed to confer female-specific lethality or sterility. Sex determination pathways and sex chromosomes are also targeted for gene drives that suppress pest populations by introducing extreme sex ratio biases. Here, we review these and other recent advances in genetic technologies for pest control that have benefited from knowledge of sex determination systems in Diptera.
{"title":"Leveraging sex determination systems for genetic biocontrol of dipteran pests","authors":"Maxwell J Scott , Zhijian Tu","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101439","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101439","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Genetic biocontrol is an increasingly important way to suppress insect pest populations and to mitigate their economic and health impact. One key advantage is that it is species-specific, as it relies on the mating of released males with wild females to either suppress or modify populations. The latter is through rendering females incompetent at disease transmission. Sex separation is critical to ensure the efficiency of these control programs, and it is essential in the case of vector control to avoid releasing females that can transmit pathogens. Modern genetic methods provide the opportunity to target or manipulate components of the sex determination systems to facilitate genetic biocontrol with new means to effectively accomplish sex-specific selection, lethality, or sterility. For example, sex-specific splicing elements in genes in the sex determination pathway are used to produce sex-specific markers. Sex-linked recessive lethal alleles are used to differentially eliminate the transgene-marked sex chromosome from males to produce nontransgenic males. Knocking out or knocking down sex-specific isoforms of genes in the sex determination pathway is employed to confer female-specific lethality or sterility. Sex determination pathways and sex chromosomes are also targeted for gene drives that suppress pest populations by introducing extreme sex ratio biases. Here, we review these and other recent advances in genetic technologies for pest control that have benefited from knowledge of sex determination systems in Diptera.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101439"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145148054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Among other challenges, the world currently faces the expansion of pest insects such as the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, a growing threat to public health due to the pathogens it can transmit. Current control approaches based on insecticides or elimination of mosquito larval breeding sites are insufficient to suppress this highly invasive species. The discovery of Nix, a gene necessary and sufficient to determine the male sex in this mosquito, opens new prospects for genetic control strategies, in particular those based on transgenes that convert females into males or reduce female fitness. Such forms of genetic control could be effective on larger spatial and time scales compared to classical control approaches. This overview of current and emerging genetic control strategies targeting Aedes mosquitoes emphasizes the unique characteristics of Ae. albopictus that make it particularly amenable to masculinization-based genetic control.
{"title":"Reprogramming sex for vector control: maleness-associated transgenes in Aedes albopictus","authors":"Doron Shalom Yishai Zaada , Philippos Aris Papathanos , Eric Marois","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101438","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101438","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Among other challenges, the world currently faces the expansion of pest insects such as the tiger mosquito <em>Aedes albopictus</em>, a growing threat to public health due to the pathogens it can transmit. Current control approaches based on insecticides or elimination of mosquito larval breeding sites are insufficient to suppress this highly invasive species. The discovery of <em>Nix</em>, a gene necessary and sufficient to determine the male sex in this mosquito, opens new prospects for genetic control strategies, in particular those based on transgenes that convert females into males or reduce female fitness. Such forms of genetic control could be effective on larger spatial and time scales compared to classical control approaches. This overview of current and emerging genetic control strategies targeting <em>Aedes</em> mosquitoes emphasizes the unique characteristics of <em>Ae. albopictus</em> that make it particularly amenable to masculinization-based genetic control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101438"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145112098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101436
Claudia Rückert
Among the major genera of mosquito vectors, Culex species mosquitoes transmit viruses and parasites worldwide. Genetic tools provide the ability to understand virus–mosquito interactions and develop new biocontrol strategies. While significant progress has been made in developing genetic tools for Anopheles and Aedes mosquitoes over the past 25 years, similar progress in Culex species has been limited. Recent advances include a new chromosome-level Culex quinquefasciatus genome assembly, new in vitro gene-editing tools, successful in vivo transgenics, and proof-of-principle gene drive systems. This review provides a perspective on the past and current challenges associated with Culex transgenesis and genetic tool development, as well as a summary of recent advances.
{"title":"New genetic tools to study Culex mosquito–virus interactions","authors":"Claudia Rückert","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101436","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101436","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Among the major genera of mosquito vectors, <em>Culex</em> species mosquitoes transmit viruses and parasites worldwide. Genetic tools provide the ability to understand virus–mosquito interactions and develop new biocontrol strategies. While significant progress has been made in developing genetic tools for <em>Anopheles</em> and <em>Aedes</em> mosquitoes over the past 25 years, similar progress in <em>Culex</em> species has been limited. Recent advances include a new chromosome-level <em>Culex quinquefasciatus</em> genome assembly, new <em>in vitro</em> gene-editing tools, successful <em>in vivo</em> transgenics, and proof-of-principle gene drive systems. This review provides a perspective on the past and current challenges associated with <em>Culex</em> transgenesis and genetic tool development, as well as a summary of recent advances.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101436"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145102502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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