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Applications of insect transgenesis

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 4, pages 225–232 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The recent establishment of broadly applicable genetic transformation systems will allow the analysis of gene function in diverse insect species. This will increase our understanding of developmental and evolutionary biology. Furthermore, insect transgenesis will provide new strategies for insect pest management and methods to impair the transmission of pathogens by human disease vectors. However, these powerful techniques must be applied with great care to avoid harm to our environment.

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Figure 1: 3×P3-EGFP marker gene expression in Diptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.
Figure 2: Binary expression systems.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to B. Jaunich and F. Pogoda for technical assistance and wish to thank V. Kokoza, J.-L. Thomas and M. Jindra for providing photographs. I apologize to all the authors whose important work I did not cite owing to the strict space restrictions of this article. Work in my laboratory is supported by the European Molecular Biology Organization Young Investigator Programme, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung and especially by the Robert Bosch Foundation who provided an independent junior research group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Genetik, Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30 NWI, Bayreuth, 95447, Germany

    Ernst A. Wimmer

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  1. Ernst A. Wimmer
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DATABASES

LocusLink

eve

hsp70

FURTHER INFORMATION

Anopheles gambiae Genome View

Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project

Drosophila Genome Project at the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine

Genome News Network — moth DNA sequenced

International Lepidopteran Genome Project

Mosquito Genome Browser

TheMosquitoGenomicsWWW.Server

National Human Genome Research Institute

The piggyBac Web site

SilkBase

Glossary

BALANCER CHROMOSOMES

Chromosomes that contain inversions and visible markers. Balancer chromosomes facilitate crossing schemes by suppressing recombination between homologues and by being easily detected.

BLASTODERM

The layer of cells that completely surrounds an internal mass of yolk in an insect embryo.

CASTE FORMATION

The development of different groups of individuals of predictable morphological types or behaviour that have specialized tasks in a colony of social insects.

DIAPAUSE

A resting phase in the life cycle of an organism. It is a period of suspended growth or development, characterized by greatly reduced metabolic activity.

GERM PLASM

Cytoplasm that is localized to a certain region within the insect oocyte that is necessary for the correct development of germ cells.

HAEMOCOEL

The large body cavity of insects in which haemolymph (insect blood) flows.

HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER

The transfer of genetic material between the genomes of two organisms, which usually belong to different species.

MACROEVOLUTIONARY EVENT

Evolution that occurs above the species level and over protracted periods of geological time (for example, speciation, morphological change and extinction).

MICROEVOLUTIONARY EVENT

A minor evolutionary event that is usually observed over a short period of time. It consists of changes in gene frequencies, chromosome structure or number in a population over a few generations.

NAIVE MICE

Mice that have not been exposed to a particular pathogen or parasite.

NON-AUTONOMOUS

A non-autonomous transposon is not able to transpose by itself, but will transpose if transposase activity is provided by an independent source.

ONTOGENY

The course of development and growth of an individual from egg to maturity.

ORTHOLOGUES

Homologous genes in different species, the lineage of which derives from a common ancestral gene without gene duplication or horizontal transmission.

PAIR-RULE GENES

Genes expressed as transverse stripes in alternate segment equivalents of a developing insect embryo.

PHAGE DISPLAY LIBRARY

A heterogeneous mixture of recombinant phage clones, each carrying a different foreign DNA insert and, therefore, displaying a different peptide on their surface.

PHENOCOPY

An experimentally or environmentally induced phenotypic variation that resembles the effect of a known gene mutation.

PHYLOGENY

The evolutionary history of a group or lineage.

RNA INTERFERENCE

(RNAi). A process by which double-stranded RNA silences specifically the expression of homologous genes through degradation of their cognate mRNA.

STABILIZING SELECTION

Selection for the mean or intermediate phenotype. Consequently, peripheral variants are eliminated, maintaining an existing state of adaptation in a stable environment.

STRIPE ELEMENT

A cis-regulatory DNA sequence that acts as an enhancer of gene expression and mediates regionally restricted expression of zygotic developmental genes in transverse stripes.

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Wimmer, E. Applications of insect transgenesis. Nat Rev Genet 4, 225–232 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1021

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