Gifts that keep on giving: maternal effects and insect pest control

不断给予的礼物：母性影响和害虫防治

• 批准号: 2445628
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of East Anglia
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2445628
• 关键词: Gifts; keep; giving; maternal; effects

Successful early embryonic development occurs as a result of a precise balance between the effects of both embryonic and maternal genomes. Very little of this process is known in key insect pests and it is of particular importance for effectively tackling serious agricultural pests such as the medfly (Ceratitis captita). This is an extreme generalist whose larvae can thrive in over 350 different host fruits, many of which are of global economic importance. Understanding the mechanisms and balance of maternal vs embryonic effects on development in this species is crucially important to reveal fundamental characteristics of generalist insect pests and to deliver new tools for population suppression.The project is a collaboration with the Pirbright Institute, a world-leading research centre for the development of genetic technologies. The project aims to identify and manipulate RNAs deposited in eggs by mothers in the medfly. This will reveal the fundamental role of these RNAs in the unusually wide dietary success of this species and offer significant potential to increase the efficiency of next generation genes drives through improvements to gene editing.

成功的早期胚胎发育是胚胎和母体基因组之间精确平衡的结果。这一过程在主要害虫中知之甚少，对于有效防治严重的农业害虫如地中海实蝇（Ceratitis captita）特别重要。这是一种极端的多面手，其幼虫可以在350多种不同的宿主水果中茁壮成长，其中许多具有全球经济重要性。了解母体与胚胎对该物种发育的影响的机制和平衡对于揭示通才害虫的基本特征和提供抑制种群的新工具至关重要。该项目是与Pirbright研究所合作的，Pirbright研究所是世界领先的遗传技术开发研究中心。该项目旨在识别和操纵地中海果蝇母亲卵中沉积的RNA。这将揭示这些RNA在该物种异常广泛的饮食成功中的基本作用，并通过改进基因编辑来提高下一代基因驱动的效率。