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GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SINGLE‐CONSTRUCT CHROMOSOMAL GENE DRIVE
Author(s) -
Marshall John M.,
Hay Bruce A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01582.x
Subject(s) - biology , gene drive , population , genetics , antidote , offspring , gene , evolutionary biology , crispr , pregnancy , chemistry , demography , organic chemistry , toxicity , sociology
Gene drive systems are genetic elements capable of spreading into a population even if they confer a fitness cost to their host. We consider a class of drive systems consisting of a chromosomally located, linked cluster of genes, the presence of which renders specific classes of offspring arising from specific parental crosses unviable. Under permissive conditions, a number of these elements are capable of distorting the offspring ratio in their favor. We use a population genetic framework to derive conditions under which these elements spread to fixation in a population or induce a population crash. Many of these systems can be engineered using combinations of toxin and antidote genes, analogous to Medea , which consists of a maternal toxin and zygotic antidote. The majority of toxin–antidote drive systems require a critical frequency to be exceeded before they spread into a population. Of particular interest, a Z‐linked Medea construct with a recessive antidote is expected to induce an all‐male population crash for release frequencies above 50%. We suggest molecular tools that may be used to build these systems, and discuss their relevance to the control of a variety of insect pest species, including mosquito vectors of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.