Controlling invasive rodents via synthetic gene drive and the role of polyandry.

ABSTRACT: House mice are a major ecosystem pest, particularly threatening island ecosystems as a non-native invasive species. Rapid advances in synthetic biology offer new avenues to control pest species for biodiversity conservation. Recently, a synthetic sperm-killing gene drive construct called t-Sry has been proposed as a means to eradicate target mouse populations owing to a lack of females. A factor that has received little attention in the discussion surrounding such drive applications is polyandry. Previous research has demonstrated that sperm-killing drivers are extremely damaging to a male's sperm competitive ability. Here, we examine the importance of this effect on the t-Sry system using a theoretical model. We find that polyandry substantially hampers the spread of t-Sry such that relea

SUBMITTER: Manser A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6732378 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature