Developing the Arsenal Against Pest and Vector Dipterans: Inputs of Transgenic and Paratransgenic Biotechnologies

Abstract

Insects are the most numerous of all animals and are found in almost every inhabitable place on earth. The order Diptera (true flies) contains many members that are notorious agricultural pests, nuisance or vectors of diseases. The list is long: mosquitoes, tsetse flies, screw worms, fruit flies, sand flies, blow flies, house flies, gall and biting midges, black flies, leaf miners, horse flies, and so on. Efforts to combat some of these pests and vectors have resulted in control measures such as the chemical, physical, and cultural control methods. These methods, though largely beneficial, have disadvantages and limitations, which sometimes seem to outweigh the problems initially sought to be controlled. The chemical method, for example, is not environment-friendly since it negatively affects many nontarget organisms and disrupts ecosystem balance. Development of insecticide resistance by pests/vectors is another concern. Molecular biotechnology has introduced vast arrays of novel ways to tackle pests and disease vectors, as well as improve the potency of existing control methods. This chapter looks at transgenic and paratransgenic biotechnologies and how they have been applied so far to develop and expand the arsenal against dipteran pests and disease vectors. Further, we discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of these technologies.

Overview of paratransgenesis as a strategy to control pathogen transmission by insect vectors

“…Some of the problems to be addressed have been identified previously (e.g. [ 34 , 69 , 83 , 334 , 335 ]) and their partial resolutions are indicated in Table 1 .…”

Mosquito Trilogy: Microbiota, Immunity and Pathogens, and Their Implications for the Control of Disease Transmission

“…In arthropods, paratransgenesis is based on the genetic manipulation of symbionts for the production of effector molecules (e.g., antipathogens or immunomodulatory), followed by the re-introduction of the modified symbiont into the arthropod host, to reduce its vector competence (Ogaugwu and Durvasula, 2017;Wang and Jacobs-Lorena, 2017;Gao H. et al, 2020; Figure 2). The choice of a good candidate symbiont is crucial (Hoy, 2013).…”

Wolbachia pipientis Associated With Tephritid Fruit Fly Pests: From Basic Research to Applications

“…Unfortunately, despite substantial efforts, GSS are still lacking for most tephritid pests. The recent development of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis in tephritids, however, might enable a faster development of tephritid GSS (Reid and O'Brochta, 2016;Choo et al, 2017; see reviews by Ogaugwu and Durvasula, 2017).…”