J.Krzywinski
A significant progress in the development of suppression gene drives and systems countering their activity has brought the genetic control of Anopheles gambiae closer to implementation in the field. The most promising gene drive constructs to date hinder the normal development of mosquito females by targeting a portion of the doublesex sex determination gene. However, over time, An. gambiae populations in the field might develop resistance to these gene drives due to the accumulation of mutations in the target region. Therefore, it is essential to identify additional genes with specific critical functions in females that could serve as alternative targets for gene drives.
Under the new project “Exploring the sex determination pathway of Anopheles gambiae for gene drive targets,” funded by the Gates Foundation, a team from the GGB Hub aims to elucidate the molecular components and still unknown interactions underlying sex-specific developmental processes in malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Led by an expert leader in mosquito sex determination, researchers will identify candidate genes using two alternative approaches: bioinformatically, through the analysis of genomes and transcriptomes of male and female Anopheles, and through proteomic methods, studying interacting partners of validated Anopheles sex determination proteins. The function of identified candidates and their potential as gene drive targets will be subsequently tested using various approaches in transgenic mosquitoes and through the analysis of resulting phenotypes. In addition to immediate translational applications, shedding light on poorly understood aspects of mosquito biology is expected to stimulate new research paths in developmental genetics and novel methods for mosquito vector control.
