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Sex-ratio-biasing constructs for the control of invasive lower vertebrates

Nature Biotechnology volume 32, pages 424–427 (2014)Cite this article

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To the Editor

There are few cost-effective means of controlling the many types of invasive fish, amphibians and reptiles that cause substantial economic and ecological damage worldwide1. Notable examples include sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), cane toads (Bufo marinus), bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) and the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis)1. Genetic strategies based on constructs that heritably reduce female survival or fertility2,3,4 could provide a solution. Here we report the first successful trials of such constructs in fish and present models suggesting that their use in combination with other strategies could lead to effective species-specific control and possible long-term eradication of such pests.

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Figure 1: Effects of the FL constructs on sex ratios and reproductive parameters in zebrafish and common carp.
Figure 2: Potential synergy between the release of a sex-biasing gene construct and classic biological control.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Barrett, D. Bornholdt, W.L. Chadderton, R. Devlin, P. Eimon, K. Hayes, A. Kapuskinski, P. Koopman, K. McColl, L. McFarlane, R. Mcloughlin, S. Robert, P. Sorensen, J. Teem and the participants in the First International Symposium on Genetic Biocontrol of Fish for helpful comments on different aspects of the work; R. Gurney and X. Mu for assistance in the laboratory; L. Alphey and F. Gould for comments on the manuscript; and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority for their financial support for the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Science, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Ronald Thresher, Jodie van de Kamp, Giles Campbell, Peter Grewe, Miles Canning, Megan Barney & Nicholas J Bax

  2. Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA

    Rex Dunham & Baofeng Su

  3. Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australia

    Wayne Fulton

Authors
  1. Ronald Thresher
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  2. Jodie van de Kamp
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  3. Giles Campbell
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  5. Miles Canning
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  7. Nicholas J Bax
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  9. Baofeng Su
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Correspondence to Ronald Thresher.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Supplementary Figures 1–13, Supplementary Methods and Supplementary Results (PDF 1128 kb)

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Thresher, R., van de Kamp, J., Campbell, G. et al. Sex-ratio-biasing constructs for the control of invasive lower vertebrates. Nat Biotechnol 32, 424–427 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2903

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