{"title":"Loss-of-function in testis-specific serine/threonine protein kinase triggers male infertility in an invasive moth","authors":"Zihan Wei, Yaqi Wang, Kangwu Zheng, Zhiping Wang, Ronghua Liu, Pengcheng Wang, Yuting Li, Ping Gao, Omar S. Akbari, Xueqing Yang","doi":"10.1038/s42003-024-06961-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Genetic biocontrol technologies present promising and eco-friendly strategies for the management of pest and insect-transmitted diseases. Although considerable advancements achieve in gene drive applications targeting mosquitoes, endeavors to combat agricultural pests have been somewhat restricted. Here, we identify that the testis-specific serine/threonine kinases (TSSKs) family is uniquely expressed in the testes of Cydia pomonella, a prominent global invasive species. We further generated male moths with disrupted the expression of TSSKs and those with TSSKs disrupted using RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9 genetic editing techniques, resulting in significant disruptions in spermiogenesis, decreased sperm motility, and hindered development of eggs. Further explorations into the underlying post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms reveales the involvement of lnc117962 as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-3960, thereby regulating TSSKs. Notably, orchard trials demonstrates that the release of male strains can effectively suppress population growth. Our findings indicate that targeting TSSKs could serve as a feasible avenue for managing C. pomonella populations, offering significant insights and potential strategies for controlling invasive pests through genetic sterile insect technique (gSIT) technology. Functional analysis reveals that targeting testisspecific serine/threonine protein kinase (TSSKs) is a feasible avenue for controlling invasive pest Cydia pomonella through genetic sterile insect technique (gSIT) technology.","PeriodicalId":10552,"journal":{"name":"Communications Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06961-5.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Communications Biology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06961-5","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Genetic biocontrol technologies present promising and eco-friendly strategies for the management of pest and insect-transmitted diseases. Although considerable advancements achieve in gene drive applications targeting mosquitoes, endeavors to combat agricultural pests have been somewhat restricted. Here, we identify that the testis-specific serine/threonine kinases (TSSKs) family is uniquely expressed in the testes of Cydia pomonella, a prominent global invasive species. We further generated male moths with disrupted the expression of TSSKs and those with TSSKs disrupted using RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9 genetic editing techniques, resulting in significant disruptions in spermiogenesis, decreased sperm motility, and hindered development of eggs. Further explorations into the underlying post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms reveales the involvement of lnc117962 as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-3960, thereby regulating TSSKs. Notably, orchard trials demonstrates that the release of male strains can effectively suppress population growth. Our findings indicate that targeting TSSKs could serve as a feasible avenue for managing C. pomonella populations, offering significant insights and potential strategies for controlling invasive pests through genetic sterile insect technique (gSIT) technology. Functional analysis reveals that targeting testisspecific serine/threonine protein kinase (TSSKs) is a feasible avenue for controlling invasive pest Cydia pomonella through genetic sterile insect technique (gSIT) technology.
期刊介绍:
Communications Biology is an open access journal from Nature Research publishing high-quality research, reviews and commentary in all areas of the biological sciences. Research papers published by the journal represent significant advances bringing new biological insight to a specialized area of research.