Knockout of juvenile hormone receptor, Methoprene-tolerant, induces black larval phenotype in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, vectors human pathogens. Juvenile hormones (JH) control almost every aspect of an insect's life, and JH analogs are currently used to control mosquito larvae. Since RNA interference does not work efficiently during the larval stages of this insect, JH regulation of larval development and mode of action of JH analogs are not well studied. To overcome this limitation, we used a multiple single guide RNA-based CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing method to knockout the methoprene-tolerant (Met) gene coding for a JH receptor. The Met knockout larvae exhibited a black larval phenotype during the L3 (third instar larvae) and L4 (fourth instar larvae) stages and died before pupation. However, Met knockout did not affect embryonic

SUBMITTER: Zhu GH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6815201 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature