Mosquito sex-determining gene could help fight dengue fever
Date: 22.5.2015
Researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech have identified a gene responsible for sex determination in mosquitoes that can transmit yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya viruses.
Males aren't relevant—at least when it comes to disease transmission by mosquitoes. Only female mosquitoes bite because they need blood for developing eggs, and researchers believe that a higher ratio of males could reduce disease transmission.
In a study published in the Science Express today, the scientists identify a genetic switch called Nix in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that underlies the difference between males and females.
These master switches often reside in genomic black holes, which is why none had been found in mosquitoes or other insects before.
"Nix provides us with exciting opportunities to harness mosquito sex in the fight against infectious diseases because maleness is the ultimate disease-refractory trait," said Zhijian Jake Tu, a professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate.
The scientists injected Nix into mosquito embryos and found more than two-thirds of the female mosquitoes developed male genitals and testes. When they removed Nix using a genome-editing method known as CRISPR-Cas9, male mosquitoes developed female genitals.
