Transposable Element-Mediated Transgenic Insects in the Screwworm Program

Authors

Margaret Allen, USDA-ARS
Alfred Handler, USDA-ARS
Dennis Berkebile, USDA-ARSFollow
Steven Skoda, USDA-ARSFollow
Philip Scholl

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

June 2002

Comments

Published by http://www.ars.usda.gov.

Abstract

The following interpretive summary refers to an oral presentation given at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Livestock Insect Worker's Conference. Transposable element (TE)-mediated transformation of non-drosophilid insects is becoming a viable and robust gene introduction method for many insects of economic and medical importance. Transformation may be used for gene identification and characterization, and for creating strains with genes encoding lethality or sterility. This technology now has been adapted for and applied to the primary screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel). Using a piggyBac TE system, a green fluorescent marker gene has been introduced to the germ line of a laboratory strain (P95) of screwworms, resulting in several transgenic lines of uniquely marked strains. The genetics and characterization of these new transgenic lines will be presented.