Melanie Hempel , Joseph D Warren , Jiangtao Liang, Christen Hughes, Zhijian Tu
{"title":"Mosquito sex determination: recent advances and applications","authors":"Melanie Hempel , Joseph D Warren , Jiangtao Liang, Christen Hughes, Zhijian Tu","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101385","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101385","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mosquitoes have evolved divergent sex-determining chromosomes, and they employ diverse primary signals for sex determination. As only females feed on vertebrate blood, manipulating genes involved in sex determination can facilitate genetic control measures for mosquito-borne infectious diseases, such as dengue and malaria. We highlight new advances in mosquito sex determination, describe innovative applications, and discuss relevant evolutionary insights and future directions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 101385"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144076629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Richard Echodu , Robert Opiro , Winnie Okeyo , Rosemary Bateta , Paul O Mireji
{"title":"Prospects for application of population genetics for control of tsetse flies in Africa","authors":"Richard Echodu , Robert Opiro , Winnie Okeyo , Rosemary Bateta , Paul O Mireji","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present information on genetic connectivity among and between tsetse fly populations, and prospects for its application in control of the flies in Africa. Connected populations pose challenges to localized vector control efforts than isolated populations. Most Palpalis group tsetse flies are generally genetically connected, while their Morsitans counterparts are isolated. Effective control strategies for connected populations should target drivers of migration between the populations. Isolated populations can be targets for eradication due to reduced risk of reinvasion. Population genetics has limited applications in assessing the performance of control efforts. There are significant gaps in the population genetics information of tsetse flies in Africa.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101389"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144076568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James E Fifer , Michael Amoa-Bosompem , Dvorah Nelson, Eleanor R Terner, Amel J Clifford, Skylar Tan, Noah H Rose
{"title":"Genomics of urban adaptation and exaptation in mosquitoes and consequences for vectorial capacity","authors":"James E Fifer , Michael Amoa-Bosompem , Dvorah Nelson, Eleanor R Terner, Amel J Clifford, Skylar Tan, Noah H Rose","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101384","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101384","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As urbanization accelerates around the world, mosquitoes that are capable of surviving and thriving in urban habitats increasingly spread mosquito-borne diseases. Across the >3500 known species of mosquitoes, only a few rapidly adapted to the novel (on an evolutionary timescale) urban environments. In this review, we highlight several emerging themes and testable hypotheses from recent literature. First, apparent urban adaptations can be roughly divided into newer adaptations arising in an urban context and exaptations — traits that evolved in a different context, before modern urbanization. Second, variants involved in urban adaptation are often partitioned among species complexes and cryptic lineages, and the history of gene flow–selection balance may be related to the evolution of compact genomic architectures that could facilitate rapid urban adaptation. Third, urban adaptation often has consequences for vectorial capacity — the ability of mosquitoes to serve as effective vectors of a particular pathogen — though the selective drivers and genetic mechanisms underlying these differences are incompletely understood. To fully understand urban adaptation in mosquitoes, we advocate for a coordinated effort to increase linkages between evolutionary ecology, population genomics, and medical entomology research. We discuss the two traits for which all three perspectives are the most developed — host preference and insecticide resistance — before reviewing several other less studied traits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101384"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143996135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evolution of gene regulatory networks in insects","authors":"Takumi Karasawa , Shigeyuki Koshikawa","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101365","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Changes in gene regulatory networks (GRNs) underlying the evolution of traits have been intensively studied, with insects providing excellent model cases. In studies using <em>Drosophila</em>, butterflies, and other insects, several well-known cases have shown that changes in the <em>cis</em>-regulatory region of a gene controlling a trait can result in the co-option of the gene for a role different from that in its original developmental context. When the expression of a regulatory gene that controls the expression of multiple downstream genes is altered, the expression of these downstream genes changes accordingly, representing the simplest form of GRN co-option. Many studies have explored the applicability of this model to the acquisition of new traits, yielding substantial insights. However, no study has yet comprehensively elucidated the co-option of a GRN or the evolution of a network architecture, including associated genes and their regulatory relationships. In the near future, the use of single-cell multiomics and machine learning will allow for larger-scale data analysis, leading to a better understanding of the evolution of traits through the evolution of GRNs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101365"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143916620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biogenic amines in honey bee cognition: neurochemical pathways and stress impacts","authors":"Muhammad Fahad Raza, Wenfeng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101376","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101376","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Honey bees, as indispensable pollinators, rely on sophisticated neuromodulatory networks to regulate learning, memory, and social behaviors, all essential for colony function, ecosystem stability, and global agricultural systems. Biogenic amines octopamine, dopamine, serotonin, and tyramine are key modulators of these cognitive and behavioral processes, regulating foraging efficiency, navigational precision, and division of labor. However, we argue that anthropogenic stressors, including pesticides, pollutants, heavy metals, and microbiome dysbiosis, disrupt aminergic pathways by impairing neurotransmitter synthesis and neuronal signaling, leading to maladaptive behaviors and colony collapse. Recent discoveries expand this paradigm, revealing those biogenic amines in floral nectar act as exogenous neurochemicals, potentially altering pollinator behavior; however, their interaction with agrochemicals remains underexplored. While most studies focus on <em>Apis mellifera</em>, we caution that cautious extrapolation to wild and solitary bees is critical, given the evolutionary conservation of aminergic signaling across insect taxa. Cognitive deficits observed in managed honeybees likely extend to wild pollinators, threatening pollination network resilience and food security. To address these gaps, we advocate for CRISPR-based neurogenetic tools and multi-omics approaches to dissect stress susceptibility and biogenic amine (BA) regulation. Integrating neurobiology, ecotoxicology, and conservation science is imperative to develop precision strategies that mitigate anthropogenic threats, safeguard biodiversity, and stabilize global agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101376"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143924507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arjen E van‘t Hof , Atsuo Yoshido , František Marec
{"title":"Sex determination in moths and butterflies: Masculinizer as key player","authors":"Arjen E van‘t Hof , Atsuo Yoshido , František Marec","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101375","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101375","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Knowledge about sex determination in Lepidoptera is starting to unfold just over a decade after the discovery of the primary sex determination trigger in the silkworm <em>Bombyx mori</em>. The silkworm has a W-dominant sex determination mechanism with a PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) precursor gene called <em>Feminizer</em> (<em>Fem</em>) as the primary trigger. The emerging view is that the silkworm is unsuitable to predict primary triggers in other Lepidoptera species, despite its role as model organism. However, the Z-linked gene named <em>Masculinizer</em> (<em>Masc</em>), which is targeted by <em>Fem</em> piRNA in the silkworm, plays a key role in sex determination in all species studied so far. This conserved role of <em>Masc</em> at the beginning of the sex determination cascade differs from what is known in other insects, where the cascade is initially diverse and becomes increasingly conserved towards the end, where <em>doublesex</em> (<em>dsx</em>) is alternatively spliced into a female or male variant. Sex-specific <em>dsx</em> splicing is also conserved in Lepidoptera, while the other genes which make up the sex-determining cascade are yet to be revealed in full detail. The sex determination mechanisms in two species are highlighted because, unlike the silkworm, they do not rely on a primary trigger from the W chromosome. The moth <em>Samia cynthia ricini</em> uses the ratio of Z chromosomes to autosome sets to determine sex. The butterfly <em>Bicyclus anynana</em> has a sex determination more similar to the honey bee than to the silkworm, with the zygosity of a hypervariable region of <em>Masc</em> determining whether individuals become female or male.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101375"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143924494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The relevance of goal directed movement for insect pest control","authors":"Ajay Narendra , Dinesh Rao","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101374","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101374","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient locomotion is a fundamental feature and requisite of all insects. Some insects, such as mosquito larvae, travel just a few centimetres, whereas others, such as Bogong moths, migrate over several hundreds of kilometers. Some insects traverse in air, others in water and some on ground. For goal-directed movement, irrespective of body size, the scale at which insects move, or the medium in which they travel, the principles of navigation remain the same. In this article, we discuss some of the visual navigational tasks that insects carry out and highlight the recent techniques developed to reconstruct visual information and track animals with exceptional accuracy. We emphasise the need to understand the visual ecology of insects and to adopt tracking tools and methods to control the movement and spread of insect pests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101374"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143883169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joshua XD Ang , Sebald AN Verkuijl , Michelle AE Anderson , Luke Alphey
{"title":"Synthetic homing endonuclease gene drives to revolutionise Aedes aegypti biocontrol — game changer or pipe dream?","authors":"Joshua XD Ang , Sebald AN Verkuijl , Michelle AE Anderson , Luke Alphey","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing burden of <em>Aedes aegypti</em>–borne diseases, particularly dengue, is a growing global concern, further exacerbated by climate change. Current control strategies have proven insufficient, necessitating novel approaches. Synthetic homing endonuclease gene (sHEG) drives represent one of the few emerging technologies with the potential to offer a cost-effective and equitable solution to this escalating public health challenge. However, despite multiple attempts, the homing efficiencies of <em>Ae. aegypti</em> sHEG systems lag behind those achieved in <em>Anopheles</em> mosquitoes. We discuss key insights from efforts to develop sHEGs in <em>Ae. aegypti</em> and highlight critical factors that may unlock further advances in this species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"70 ","pages":"Article 101373"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143855827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Crustacean sexual differentiation: a decapod perspective","authors":"Tomer Ventura","doi":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101371","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cois.2025.101371","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sexual differentiation in crustaceans is shaped by genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors, with notable interspecies diversity. This review highlights key mechanisms in decapods, including genetic pathways like Doublesex and species-specific variations, such as the Y-linked iDMY gene in spiny lobsters. Male differentiation is driven by the androgenic gland and its insulin-like hormone, while female differentiation involves eyestalk neuropeptides like gonad-inhibiting hormone. Environmental factors, such as density, influence flexible genetic systems. These findings aid aquaculture by enabling sex ratio manipulation and inform conservation through biotechnological advances. Emerging tools like CRISPR promise deeper insights into crustacean sexual differentiation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11038,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in insect science","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101371"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143709089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}