Assessment of drive efficiency and resistance allele formation of a homing gene drive in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

• DOI: 10.1007/s10340-024-01864-0
• Publication Date: 2025-01-08T12:24:18Z
• Authors: Xiaozhen Yang; Xuejiao Xu; Yixian Chen; Jiajia Wei; Wanting Huang; Songqing Wu; Jackson Champer; Junxiang Wang
• Keywords: Entomology; Gene drive; Insecticide Resistance

AbstractAedes aegypti, known for transmitting viruses such as dengue, zika, and yellow fever, poses a significant public health threat. Conventional insecticides give rise to a range of issues, including ecological contamination and insect resistance. Hence, there is a pressing demand for environmentally friendly, safer, and more efficacious strategies for mosquito control. With the rapid advancement of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in gene function exploration and pest population control, substantial progress has been achieved in utilizing CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drive systems across various mosquito species. Only a few studies on gene drive technology have been conducted inA. aegypti. In this study, we constructed two complete drives forA. aegyptiwith different Cas9 promoters, each targetingkmo. Our drive based onPub-Cas9 had limited activity, but one withexu-Cas9 exhibited super-Mendelian inheritance rates of approximately 60%. We observed low but detectable somatic activity of the drive and no evidence of maternally deposited Cas9. Germline resistance allele formation rates were similar to drive conversion rates, but most wild-type alleles in the germline remained uncut. Injections into theexu-Cas9 drive line had 100% knockout efficiency among surviving offspring at three separate target genes. These results support the development and application of novel genetic pest control technologies aimed at combatingA. aegypti.