Silkworm genetic sexing through W chromosome-linked, targeted gene integration

作者：Zhongjie Zhang, Baolong Niu, Dong-Feng Ji, Muwang Li, Kai Li, Anthony Amade James, Anjiang Tan, Yongping Huang · 发表于：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.1073/pnas.1810945115 · 被引用次数：58 · 研究领域：CRISPR and Genetic Engineering、Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences、Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities

Significance Insect sex is determined genetically and shows high diversity among different species. The silkworm, Bombyx mori , has a WZ/ZZ sex chromosome system seen in lepidopteran insects in which the females are heterogametic. Sex separation methods are critical for commercial aspects of rearing silkworms, and genetic-sexing systems also could serve as the basis for adaptation to sterile insect techniques for pest lepidopteran species. Here, we describe a W chromosome-based, genetic-sexing system combining transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases and CRISPR/Cas9 technologies in B. mori . Development of silkworm strains with ubiquitous female-specific fluorescence for convenient genetic sorting or complete female-specific embryonic lethality for male-only rearing provides a successful example of targeting an insect sex chromosome with genome editing tools, which should assist future sterile insect technique development for pest insects.