TAC-TICS: Transposon-based biological pest management systems

Abstract

A system in which a specific pest insect population is targeted for management by making that population susceptible to control is described. The four key components of this genetic control system are: (a) transformation of the targeted insect, (b) dissemination of the engineered construct throughout the targeted population, (c) an inducible promoter to activate the expression of, (d) the incapacitating gene or genes. The progress made in transformation of insects other than Drosophila is described and using model organisms, we show that transposon constructs can spread quite rapidly through a targeted population. The multiplicative transposition process, which drives the spread of the engineered transposon construct, is not highly error prone and thus the use of transposon armed cassettes (TAC) in insect populations is feasible. Examples of genes that might be used as relatively insect-specific incapacitating genes if over-expressed, mis-expressed or inactivated in specific insects or insect tissues are discussed, and finally we discuss the possibility of horizontal transfer: that is, the transfer of a TAC-type construct from a genetically engineered insect to a reproductively isolated species by non-reproductive mechanisms. © 2007 Springer.