Site-specific genetic engineering of the Anopheles gambiae Y chromosome
Site-specific genetic engineering of the Anopheles gambiae Y chromosome
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1404996111
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发表时间：
2014-05-27
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Windbichler, Nikolai
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bernardini, Federica;Galizi, Roberto;Windbichler, Nikolai
Despite its function in sex determination and its role in driving genome evolution, the Y chromosome remains poorly understood in most species. Y chromosomes are gene-poor, repeat-rich and largely heterochromatic and therefore represent a difficult target for genetic engineering. The Y chromosome of the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae appears to be involved in sex determination although very little is known about both its structure and function. Here, we characterize a transgenic strain of this mosquito species, obtained by transposon-mediated integration of a transgene construct onto the Y chromosome. Using meganuclease-induced homologous repair we introduce a site-specific recombination signal onto the Y chromosome and show that the resulting docking line can be used for secondary integration. To demonstrate its utility, we study the activity of a germ-line-specific promoter when located on the Y chromosome. We also show that Y-linked fluorescent transgenes allow automated sex separation of this important vector species, providing the means to generate large single-sex populations. Our findings will aid studies of sex chromosome function and enable the development of male-exclusive genetic traits for vector control.
