Targeting sex determination to suppress mosquito populations.

Each year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which are all primarily spread by the notorious mosquito Aedes aegypti. Traditional control measures have proven insufficient, necessitating innovations. In response, here we generate a next-generation CRISPR-based precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) for Ae. aegypti that disrupts genes essential for sex determination and fertility, producing predominantly sterile males that can be deployed at any life stage. Using mathematical models and empirical testing, we demonstrate that released pgSIT males can effectively compete with, suppress, and eliminate caged mosquito populations. This versatile species-specific platform has the potential for field deployment to effectively control wild populations of disease vectors.

Targeting Sex Determination to Suppress Mosquito Populations.

Each year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which are all primarily spread by the notorious mosquito Aedes aegypti. Traditional control measures have proven insufficient, necessitating innovations. In response, here we generate a next generation CRISPR-based precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) for Aedes aegypti that disrupts genes essential for sex determination and fertility, producing predominantly sterile males that can be deployed at any life stage. Using mathematical models and empirical testing, we demonstrate that released pgSIT males can effectively compete with, suppress, and eliminate caged mosquito populations. This versatile species-specific platform has the potential for field deployment to effectively control wild populations of disease vectors.

Temperature and Sweet Taste Integration in Drosophila.

Sugar-containing foods offered at cooler temperatures tend to be less appealing to many animals. However, the mechanism through which the gustatory system senses thermal input and integrates temperature and chemical signals to produce a given behavioral output is poorly understood. To study this fundamental problem, we used the fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We found that the palatability of sucrose is strongly reduced by modest cooling. Using Ca2+ imaging and electrophysiological recordings, we demonstrate that bitter gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) and mechanosensory neurons (MSNs) are activated by slight cooling, although sugar neurons are insensitive to the same mild stimulus. We found that a rhodopsin, Rh6, is expressed and required in bitter GRNs for cool-induced suppression of sugar appeal. Our findings reveal that the palatability of sugary food is reduced by slightly cool temperatures through different sets of thermally activated neurons, one of which depends on a rhodopsin (Rh6) for cool sensation.