Dataset Information

Exogenous gypsy insulator sequences modulate transgene expression in the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi.

ABSTRACT: Malaria parasites are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, and these insects are the targets of innovative vector control programs. Proposed approaches include the use of genetic strategies based on transgenic mosquitoes to suppress or modify vector populations. Although substantial advances have been made in engineering resistant mosquito strains, limited efforts have been made in refining mosquito transgene expression, in particular attenuating the effects of insertions sites, which can result in variations in phenotypes and impacts on fitness due to the random integration of transposon constructs. A promising strategy to mitigate position effects is the identification of insulator or boundary DNA elements that could be used to isolate transgenes from the effects of their genomic environment. We applied quantitative approaches that show that exogenous insulator-like DNA derived from the Drosophila melanogaster gypsy retrotransposon can increase and stabilize transgene expression in transposon-mediated random insertions and recombinase-catalyzed, site-specific integrations in the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi. These sequences can contribute to precise expression of transgenes in mosquitoes engineered for both basic and applied goals.

SUBMITTER: Carballar-Lejarazu R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3645527 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Exogenous gypsy insulator sequences modulate transgene expression in the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi.

Carballar-Lejarazú Rebeca R Jasinskiene Nijole N James Anthony A AA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20130412 18

Malaria parasites are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, and these insects are the targets of innovative vector control programs. Proposed approaches include the use of genetic strategies based on transgenic mosquitoes to suppress or modify vector populations. Although substantial advances have been made in engineering resistant mosquito strains, limited efforts have been made in refining mosquito transgene expression, in particular attenuating the effects of insertions ...[more]

PMID: 23584017

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Project description:Small laboratory cage trials of non-drive and gene-drive strains of the Asian malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, were used to investigate release ratios and other strain properties for their impact on transgene spread during simulated population modification. We evaluated the effects of transgenes on survival, male contributions to next-generation populations, female reproductive success and the impact of accumulation of gene drive-resistant genomic target sites resulting from nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) mutagenesis during Cas9, guide RNA-mediated cleavage. Experiments with a non-drive, autosomally-linked malaria-resistance gene cassette showed 'full introduction' (100% of the insects have at least one copy of the transgene) within 8 weeks (? 3 generations) following weekly releases of 10:1 transgenic:wild-type males in an overlapping generation trial design. Male release ratios of 1:1 resulted in cages where mosquitoes with at least one copy of the transgene fluctuated around 50%. In comparison, two of three cages in which the malaria-resistance genes were linked to a gene-drive system in an overlapping generation, single 1:1 release reached full introduction in 6-8 generations with a third cage at ~80% within the same time. Release ratios of 0.1:1 failed to establish the transgenes. A non-overlapping generation, single-release trial of the same gene-drive strain resulted in two of three cages reaching 100% introduction within 6-12 generations following a 1:1 transgenic:wild-type male release. Two of three cages with 0.33:1 transgenic:wild-type male single releases achieved full introduction in 13-16 generations. All populations exhibiting full introduction went extinct within three generations due to a significant load on females having disruptions of both copies of the target gene, kynurenine hydroxylase. While repeated releases of high-ratio (10:1) non-drive constructs could achieve full introduction, results from the 1:1 release ratios across all experimental designs favor the use of gene drive, both for efficiency and anticipated cost of the control programs.

Dataset Information

Exogenous gypsy insulator sequences modulate transgene expression in the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi.

Publications

Exogenous gypsy insulator sequences modulate transgene expression in the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles stephensi.

Similar Datasets

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