PUBLICATION

Heritable CRISPR Mutagenesis of Essential Maternal Effect Genes as a Simple Tool for Sustained Population Suppression of Invasive Species in a Zebrafish Model

Authors
Krueger, C.J., Dai, Z., Zhu, C., Zhang, B.
ID
ZDB-PUB-240322-1
Date
2024
Source
Zebrafish   21(4): 279-286 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Zhang, Bo
Keywords
invasive species, maternal effect gene, population suppression, sterile male release technique, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Male
  • Maternal Inheritance
  • Female
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Zebrafish*/genetics
  • Mutagenesis*
  • Introduced Species*
  • Animals
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
PubMed
38512221 Full text @ Zebrafish
Abstract
Invasive species control is important for ecological and agricultural management. Genetic methods can provide species specificity for population control. We developed heritable maternal effect embryo lethality (HMEL), a novel strategy allowing negative population pressure from HMEL individuals to be transmitted within a population across generations. We demonstrate the HMEL technique in zebrafish through genome-integrated CRISPR/Cas targeted mutagenic disruption of nucleoplasmin 2b (npm2b), a female-specific essential maternal effect gene, causing heritable sex-limited disruption of reproduction. HMEL-induced high-efficiency mutation of npm2b in females suppresses population, while males transmit the HMEL allele across generations. HMEL could be easily modified to target other genes causing sex-specific sterility, or generalized to control invasive fish or other vertebrate species for environmental conservation or agricultural protection.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping