A drug-inducible sex-separation technique for insects

Nat Commun. 2020 Apr 30;11(1):2106. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16020-2.

Abstract

Here, we describe a drug-inducible genetic system for insect sex-separation that demonstrates proof-of-principle for positive sex selection in D. melanogaster. The system exploits the toxicity of commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics geneticin and puromycin to kill the non-rescued sex. Sex-specific rescue is achieved by inserting sex-specific introns into the coding sequences of antibiotic-resistance genes. When raised on geneticin-supplemented food, the sex-sorter line establishes 100% positive selection for female progeny, while the food supplemented with puromycin positively selects 100% male progeny. Since the described system exploits conserved sex-specific splicing mechanisms and reagents, it has the potential to be adaptable to other insect species of medical and agricultural importance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Drosophila Proteins / genetics
  • Drosophila melanogaster / drug effects*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / genetics
  • Drug Resistance
  • Exons
  • Female
  • Genetic Engineering / methods*
  • Genetics, Population
  • Gentamicins / pharmacology*
  • Homozygote
  • Introns
  • Male
  • Pest Control
  • Puromycin / pharmacology*
  • RNA Splicing
  • Sex Determination Analysis

Substances

  • Drosophila Proteins
  • Gentamicins
  • Puromycin
  • antibiotic G 418