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Background  Development and evaluation of new insect pest management tools is critical for overcoming over-reliance upon, and growing resistance to, synthetic, biological and plant-expressed insecticides. For transgenic crops expressing insecticidal proteins from the bacterium  Bacillus thuringiensis  (‘ Bt  crops’) emergence of resistance is slowed by maintaining a proportion of the crop as non- Bt  varieties, which produce pest insects unselected for resistance. While this strategy has been largely successful, multiple cases of  Bt  resistance have now been reported.  One new approach to pest management is the use of genetically engineered insects to suppress populations of their own species. Models suggest that released insects carrying male-selecting (MS) transgenes would be effective agents of direct, species-specific pest management by preventing survival of female progeny, and simultaneously provide an alternative insecticide resistance management strategy by introgression of susceptibility alleles into target populations. We developed a MS strain of the diamondback moth,  Plutella xylostella , a serious global pest of crucifers. MS-strain larvae are reared as normal with dietary tetracycline, but, when reared without tetracycline or on host plants, only males will survive to adulthood. We used this strain in glasshouse-cages to study the effect of MS male  P. xylostella  releases on target pest population size and spread of  Bt  resistance in these populations.    Results  Introductions of MS-engineered  P. xylostella  males into wild-type populations led to rapid pest population decline, and then elimination. In separate experiments on broccoli plants, relatively low-level releases of MS males in combination with broccoli expressing Cry1Ac ( Bt  broccoli) suppressed population growth and delayed the spread of  Bt  resistance. Higher rates of MS male releases in the absence of  Bt  broccoli were also able to suppress  P. xylostella  populations, whereas either low-level MS male releases or  Bt  broccoli alone did not.    Conclusions  These results support theoretical modeling, indicating that MS-engineered insects can provide a powerful pest population suppressing effect, and could effectively augment current  Bt  resistance management strategies. We conclude that, subject to field confirmation, MS insects offer an effective and versatile control option against  P. xylostella  and potentially other pests, and may reduce reliance on and protect insecticide-based approaches, including  Bt  crops.

Pest control and resistance management through release of insects carrying a male-selecting transgene