Several fruit fly species are invasive pests that damage quality fruits in horticultural crops
and cause significant value losses. The management of fruit flies is challenging due to their …

The genetics of the sex determination regulatory cascade in Drosophila melanogaster has a
fascinating history, interlinked with the foundation of the Genetics discipline itself. The …

RNA interference (RNAi) based methods are being developed for pest management. A few
products for control of coleopteran pests are expected to be commercialized soon. However …

Homing-based gene drives are recently proposed interventions promising the area-wide,
species-specific genetic control of harmful insect populations. Here we characterise a first …

When considering a mosquito release programme, one of the first issues to be addressed is
how to eliminate/separate the females. The greatest number of options might eventually be …

Regulation of male sexual differentiation by a Y chromosome-linked male determining factor
(M-factor) is one of a diverse array of sex determination mechanisms found in insects. By …

The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is a highly successful biologically-based strategy to
control pest insect populations that relies on the large-scale release of sterilized males to …

Abstract The Mediterranean fruitfly Ceratitis capitata (medfly) is an invasive agricultural pest
of high economic impact and has become an emerging model for developing new genetic …

RNA interference (RNAi) selectively targets genes and silences their expression in vivo,
causing developmental defects, mortality and altered behavior. Consequently, RNAi has …

Sex determination pathways in insects are generally characterised by an upstream primary
signal, which is highly variable across species, and that regulates the splicing of a suite of …