How to translate text using browser tools
1 December 2005 Quality of Transgenic Laboratory Strains of Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
Margaret L. Allen, Philip J. Scholl
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Genetically modified, mass reared insects present novel possibilities for the future of insect control. One concern about manipulation of insects is a possible loss of strain quality due to the introduction of a foreign gene of any sort into the insect genome. Eight transgenic strains of screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), were compared with the wild-type parental laboratory strain in laboratory culture. Measurements of average fertility, fecundity, larval productivity, and longevity were analyzed. Two transgenic strains had significantly lower larval productivity than controls, one of which was explained by a homozygous lethal insertion of the transgene. Another strain produced significantly fewer eggs than controls. Overall strain characteristics, including measurements from egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages, were compared. Transgenic colonies did not consistently show significantly lower individual or aggregate strain quality characteristics than the control parental colony; hence, the presence of the transgene used to produce the strains tested did not incur a discrete cost to the colonies of laboratory-reared C. hominivorax.

Margaret L. Allen and Philip J. Scholl "Quality of Transgenic Laboratory Strains of Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae)," Journal of Economic Entomology 98(6), 2301-2306, (1 December 2005). https://doi.org/10.1603/0022-0493-98.6.2301
Received: 20 April 2005; Accepted: 1 July 2005; Published: 1 December 2005
JOURNAL ARTICLE
6 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Cochliomyia hominivorax
mass rearing
Quality control
sterile insect technique
transgenic insect
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top