Abstract
OX513A is a transgenic strain of Aedes aegypti engineered to carry a dominant, non-sex-specific, late-acting lethal genetic system that is repressed in the presence of tetracycline. It was designed for use in a sterile-insect (SIT) pest control system called RIDL® (Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal gene) by which transgenic males are released in the field to mate with wild females; in the absence of tetracycline, the progeny from such matings will not survive. We investigated the mating fitness of OX513A in the laboratory. Male OX513A were as effective as Rockefeller (ROCK) males at inducing refractoriness to further mating in wild type females and there was no reduction in their ability to inseminate multiple females. They had a lower mating success but yielded more progeny than the wild-type comparator strain (ROCK) when one male of each strain was caged with a ROCK female. Mating success and fertility of groups of 10 males-with different ratios of RIDL to ROCK-competing for five ROCK females was similar, but the median longevity of RIDL males was somewhat (18%) lower. We conclude that the fitness under laboratory conditions of OX513A males carrying a tetracycline repressible lethal gene is comparable to that of males of the wild-type comparator strain.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Aedes / drug effects
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Aedes / genetics*
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Aedes / physiology*
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Animals
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Animals, Genetically Modified
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Competitive Behavior / drug effects
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Female
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Fertilization / drug effects
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Fertilization / genetics
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Genes, Dominant / genetics*
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Genes, Lethal*
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Genetic Fitness / drug effects
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Genetic Fitness / genetics*
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Homozygote
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Insemination / drug effects
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Insemination / genetics
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Laboratories
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Longevity / drug effects
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Longevity / genetics
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Male
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Oviposition / drug effects
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Oviposition / genetics
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Pest Control, Biological / methods*
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Sexual Behavior, Animal / drug effects
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Tetracycline / pharmacology
Grants and funding
RL, RSL, HKP, DN, and LA are or have been employees or students of Oxitec Ltd and/or the University of Oxford. Oxitec and the University of Oxford hold intellectual property relating to the subject matter of this paper. This work was supported by Institut Pasteur (Paris) and funded in part by a grant to the Regents of the University of California from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health through the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative. This study was partially funded by EU grant FP7-261504 EDENext and is catalogued by the EDENext Steering Committee as EDENext112 (
http://www.edenext.eu). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and don't necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. All other authors have declared that no competing interests exist. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.