Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 119, Issue 46, Pages -Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213308119
Keywords
genetic biocontrol; gene drive; invasive rodents; conservation; modeling
Categories
Funding
- Government of New South Wales
- Centre for Invasive Species Solutions
- Government of South Australia
- USDA Animal Plant Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center
- Phenomics Australia
- Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program
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This study demonstrates a novel gene drive strategy to eradicate invasive rodent populations on islands by leveraging the super-Mendelian transmission of the t haplotype. Transgenic mice were engineered to validate the effectiveness of this approach.
Invasive rodents are a major cause of environmental damage and biodiversity loss, particularly on islands. Unlike insects, genetic biocontrol strategies including population-suppressing gene drives with biased inheritance have not been developed in mice. Here, we demonstrate a gene drive strategy (tCRISPR) that leverages super-Mendelian transmission of the t haplotype to spread inactivating mutations in a haplosufficient female fertility gene (Prl). Using spatially explicit individual-based in silico modeling, we show that tCRISPR can eradicate island populations under a range of realistic field-based parameter values. We also engineer transgenic tCRISPR mice that, crucially, exhibit biased transmission of the modified t haplotype and Prl mutations at levels ourmodeling predicts would be sufficient for eradication. This is an example of a feasible gene drive system for invasive alien rodent population control.
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