Improving pest control: mass rearing and field performance - an introduction

Leo W. Beukeboom

doi:10.1111/eea.12543

Pest Biological Control: Goals Throughout My Life

Annual Review of Entomology ◽

10.1146/annurev-ento-093020-104053 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 67 (1) ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Liying Li

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Biological Control ◽

Pest Control ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Chinese Government ◽

Poor Family ◽

Foreign Countries ◽

Rearing Techniques ◽

Cotton Pest

This autobiography documents the life and accomplishments of Li Liying. Born into a poor family in China, she eventually became director of Guangdong Entomological Institute. After graduating middle school (1949), she was admitted to the Agronomy Faculty at Beijing Agricultural University but was shortly after redirected by the Chinese Government to Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, Moscow, Russia. The last year of her study at Timiryazev Agricultural Academy was a pivotal experience. She had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork on cotton pest control and became aware of the harmful practice of aerially spraying highly toxic organophosphates with workers present. She decided to dedicate herself to finding safer alternatives and became a leader in the development of mass-rearing techniques for insects beneficial to agriculture. She traveled to laboratories in several foreign countries to foster collaboration and exchange of ideas among colleagues. She is recognized for her service to entomological societies, teaching at universities, and love of entomology.

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Batch cultivation of non-transgenic males suitable for SIT programs

10.1101/828822 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Siba Das ◽

Maciej Maselko ◽

Ambuj Upadhyay ◽

Michael J. Smanski

Keyword(s):

Field Performance ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Batch Cultivation ◽

Genetically Engineered ◽

Sex Selection ◽

Batch Cultures ◽

Detection Assay ◽

Heterogametic Sex ◽

Genetic Constructs ◽

Transgene Detection

AbstractThe field performance of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is improved by sex-sorting and releasing only the sterile males. This can be accomplished by resource-intensive separation of males from females by morphology. Alternatively, sex-ratio biasing genetic constructs can be used to selectively kill one sex without the need for manual or automated sorting, but the resulting genetically engineered (GE) control agents would be subject to additional governmental regulation. Here we describe and demonstrate a method for the batch production of non-GE males that is applicable for sex-selective production of males suitable for genetic biocontrol programs. This method could be applied to generate the heterogametic sex (XY, or WZ) in any organism with chromosomal sex determination. We observed up to 100% sex-selection with batch cultures of more than 103 individuals. Using a stringent transgene detection assay, we demonstrate the potential of mass rearing of transgene free males.

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Medfly-Wolbachia symbiosis: genotype x genotype interactions determine host’s life history traits under mass rearing conditions

BMC Biotechnology ◽

10.1186/s12896-019-0586-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (S2) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Georgios A. Kyritsis ◽

Antonios A. Augustinos ◽

Ioannis Livadaras ◽

Carlos Cáceres ◽

Kostas Bourtzis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Pest Control ◽

Genetic Background ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Control Method ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Male Mating ◽

Symbiotic Association ◽

Wide Range ◽

Rearing Conditions

Abstract Background Wolbachia pipientis is a widespread, obligatory intracellular and maternally inherited bacterium, that induces a wide range of reproductive alterations to its hosts. Cytoplasmic Incompatibility (CI) is causing embryonic lethality, the most common of them. Despite that Wolbachia-borne sterility has been proposed as an environmental friendly pest control method (Incompatible Insect Technique, IIT) since 1970s, the fact that Wolbachia modifies important fitness components of its hosts sets severe barriers to IIT implementation. Mass rearing of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (medfly), is highly optimized given that this pest is a model species regarding the implementation of another sterility based pest control method, the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). We used the medfly-Wolbachia symbiotic association, as a model system, to study the effect of two different Wolbachia strains, on the life history traits of 2 C. capitata lines with different genomic background. Results Wolbachia effects are regulated by both C. capitata genetic background and the Wolbachia strain. Wolbachia infection reduces fertility rates in both C. capitata genetic backgrounds and shortens the pre-pupa developmental duration in the GSS strain. On the other hand, regardless of the strain of Wolbachia (wCer2, wCer4) infection does not affect either the sex ratio or the longevity of adults. wCer4 infection imposed a reduction in females’ fecundity but wCer2 did not. Male mating competitiveness, adults flight ability and longevity under water and food deprivation were affected by both the genetic background of medfly and the strain of Wolbachia (genotype by genotype interaction). Conclusion Wolbachia infection could alter important life history traits of mass-reared C. capitata lines and therefore the response of each genotype on the Wolbachia infection should be considered toward ensuring the productivity of the Wolbachia-infected insects under mass-rearing conditions.

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Mass-Rearing and Field Performance of Irradiated Carob Moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae in Tunisia

Area-Wide Control of Insect Pests ◽

10.1007/978-1-4020-6059-5_25 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 265-273 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

J. Mediouni ◽

M. H. Dhouibi

Keyword(s):

Field Performance ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Ectomyelois Ceratoniae ◽

Carob Moth

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Genetic elimination of field-cage populations of Mediterranean fruit flies

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2014.1372 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 281 (1792) ◽

pp. 20141372 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Philip T. Leftwich ◽

Martha Koukidou ◽

Polychronis Rempoulakis ◽

Hong-Fei Gong ◽

Antigoni Zacharopoulou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Control Measure ◽

Reproductive Potential ◽

Field Performance ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Mass Rearing ◽

Wild Type ◽

Field Cage ◽

High Level ◽

Irradiation Process

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) is a pest of over 300 fruits, vegetables and nuts. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a control measure used to reduce the reproductive potential of populations through the mass release of sterilized male insects that mate with wild females. However, SIT flies can display poor field performance, due to the effects of mass-rearing and of the irradiation process used for sterilization. The development of female-lethal RIDL (release of insects carrying a dominant lethal) strains for medfly can overcome many of the problems of SIT associated with irradiation. Here, we present life-history characterizations for two medfly RIDL strains, OX3864A and OX3647Q. Our results show (i) full functionality of RIDL, (ii) equivalency of RIDL and wild-type strains for life-history characteristics, and (iii) a high level of sexual competitiveness against both wild-type and wild-derived males. We also present the first proof-of-principle experiment on the use of RIDL to eliminate medfly populations. Weekly releases of OX3864A males into stable populations of wild-type medfly caused a successive decline in numbers, leading to eradication. The results show that genetic control can provide an effective alternative to SIT for the control of pest insects.

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