Misconceptions and Constraints

Whitten, Miranda M. A.; Mahon, R. J.

doi:10.1007/1-4020-4051-2_23

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…One of the main challenges in the development of SMRT is to reach the highest possible level of sterility in males without affecting their competitiveness. When constraints such as poorer competitiveness occurs, it can contribute to an increased cost of the SMRT programme, which must commit to sterilising and releasing more sterile males than would be required if released males were equal to wild males in their mating propensity and capability (Whitten & Mahon, ). Our research showed contrasting results: manual sterilisation lead to a complete male sterility and a decrease in female reproductive output, but also partly altered their precopulatory and copulatory behaviour.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sterile males then mate with wild females, thus impairing their reproductive capability. To be efficient, treated males should be able to compete with untreated males for mating and display behaviour typical of untreated males (Whitten & Mahon, ). The potential of X‐ray irradiation as SMRT for controlling population of P. clarkii has been assessed (Aquiloni et al, ; Aquiloni & Zanetti, ; Duse, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii: Is manual sterilisation the solution?

et al. 2019

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Management of invasive alien crayfish is challenging, as once established their eradication or control is difficult, even impossible in some areas. Sterile male release technique has been previously assessed in crayfish with encouraging results, however, the methods have not demonstrated the complete sterility of released competitive males. The present study explores whether manual removal of male gonopods, i.e. the appendages responsible for sperm transfer, as a sterilisation technique, might affect male competitiveness and sexual behaviour as well as reproductive potential in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we analysed the agonistic and sexual behaviour of 64 treated and 64 control males both coupled with a female in single pairs, and 40 treated and 40 control males together with 80 females in a natural‐like social context. Removal of gonopods partly altered sexual behaviour, affecting duration of copulation and competitiveness in treated males. However, male readiness to initiate sexual interaction with females was not affected by the treatment. Treated males needed to invest more in agonistic interactions with females to successfully dominate a female for the copulation to take place. Females coupled with treated males did not produce any offspring, compared to females coupled with control males. Treated males were able to regenerate removed gonopods, even if sometimes only partially or malformed. Females that mated with 11 treated males with regenerated gonopods did not produce any juveniles. Although treated males managed to mate with females and impair their reproductive capability under the laboratory conditions, shorter copulation and elevated number of abdominal extensions were observed in treated couples. This indicates that males and/or females are able to sense the lack of gonopods and/or lack of the contact. We believe that female receptivity after an initial mating requires further investigation. Assessment of receptivity in an experimental setting where females are provided with refuges (e.g. burrows) would help us to elucidate whether there is a compensation for unsuccessful copulation. More research is needed on underlying biological mechanisms to better assess male competitiveness, technique effectiveness and limits of technique application.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii: Is manual sterilisation the solution?

et al. 2019

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“…As an example, virtually all population suppression mechanisms implemented to date in the classic sterile insect technique rely on mating. To the extent that a high degree of suppression is achieved, selection is intensely strong for many forms of asexual reproduction (parthenogenesis), sib mating or mating discrimination [ 27 ]. Yet successful escapes have rarely been reported as the basis of failure [ 28–30 ], even though mating discrimination has evolved in other contexts (e.g.…”

Section: Examples Of Population Suppression and The Potential For Evomentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary decay and the prospects for long-term disease intervention using engineered insect vectors: Figure 1.

Bull¹

2015

EMPH

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After a long history of applying the sterile insect technique to suppress populations of disease vectors and agricultural pests, there is growing interest in using genetic engineering both to improve old methods and to enable new methods. The two goals of interventions are to suppress populations, possibly eradicating a species altogether, or to abolish the vector’s competence to transmit a parasite. New methods enabled by genetic engineering include the use of selfish genes toward either goal as well as a variety of killer-rescue systems that could be used for vector competence reduction. This article reviews old and new methods with an emphasis on the potential for evolution of resistance to these strategies. Established methods of population suppression did not obviously face a problem from resistance evolution, but newer technologies might. Resistance to these newer interventions will often be mechanism-specific, and while it is too early to know where resistance evolution will become a problem, it is at least possible to propose properties of interventions that will be more or less effective in blocking resistance evolution.

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“…In relation to the successful implementation of a SIT programme to control A. fraterculus in South America, the problem requiring most urgent attention lies in the existence of cryptic species. Whitten and Mahon [ 110 ] clearly explain this situation: If we are dealing with a group of distinct species or even subspecies with limited interbreeding, each taxon must be treated separately for the SIT, since sterile males must be competitive with the field males in seeking female mates; the situation of the cryptic species could be even worse if the mating barriers are undetected because of the lack of relevant biological knowledge [ 110 ]. For this reason, the existence of at least seven cryptic species within the " Anastrepha fraterculus complex" [ 111 ] has become an incentive for the research on the existence of reproductive barriers and isolation mechanisms, as well as the degree of gene flow among them.…”

Section: Anastrepha Fraterculus Isolation Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics and biology of Anastrepha fraterculus: research supporting the use of the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control this pest in Argentina

Cladera¹,

Vilardi

Juri

et al. 2014

BMC Genet

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Two species of true fruit flies (taxonomic family Tephritidae) are considered pests of fruit and vegetable production in Argentina: the cosmopolitan Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann) and the new world South American fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus Wiedemann). The distribution of these two species in Argentina overlaps north of the capital, Buenos Aires. Regarding the control of these two pests, the varied geographical fruit producing regions in Argentina are in different fly control situations. One part is under a programme using the sterile insect technique (SIT) for the eradication of C. capitata, because A. fraterculus is not present in this area. The application of the SIT to control C. capitata north of the present line with the possibility of A. fraterculus occupying the niche left vacant by C. capitata becomes a cause of much concern. Only initial steps have been taken to investigate the genetics and biology of A. fraterculus. Consequently, only fragmentary information has been recorded in the literature regarding the use of SIT to control this species. For these reasons, the research to develop a SIT protocol to control A. fraterculus is greatly needed. In recent years, research groups have been building a network in Argentina in order to address particular aspects of the development of the SIT for Anastrepha fraterculus. The problems being addressed by these groups include improvement of artificial diets, facilitation of insect mass rearing, radiation doses and conditions for insect sterilisation, basic knowledge supporting the development of males-only strains, reduction of male maturation time to facilitate releases, identification and isolation of chemical communication signals, and a good deal of population genetic studies. This paper is the product of a concerted effort to gather all this knowledge scattered in numerous and often hard-to-access reports and papers and summarize their basic conclusions in a single publication.

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Misconceptions and Constraints

Cited by 19 publications

References 40 publications

Managing the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii: Is manual sterilisation the solution?

Managing the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii: Is manual sterilisation the solution?

Evolutionary decay and the prospects for long-term disease intervention using engineered insect vectors: Figure 1.

Genetics and biology of Anastrepha fraterculus: research supporting the use of the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control this pest in Argentina

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