The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) involving area-wide release of mass-reared and sterilized pest insects has proven successful to reduce, control and eradicate economically important pest species, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly). For the efficient application, effective monitoring to assess the number and mating success of the released medflies is essential. Here, we report sperm-specific marking systems based on the spermatogenesis-specific Ceratitis capitata beta2-tubulin (Ccbeta2t) promoter. Fluorescent sperm can be isolated from testes or spermathecae. The marking does not cause general disadvantages in preliminary laboratory competitiveness assays. Therefore, transgenic sperm marking could serve as a major improvement for monitoring medfly SIT programs. The use of such harmless transgenic markers will serve as an ideal initial condition to transfer insect transgenesis technology from the laboratory to field applications. Moreover, effective and easily recognizable sperm marking will make novel studies possible on medfly reproductive biology which will help to further improve SIT programs.

中文翻译：

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荧光精子标记以改善对害虫 Ceratitis capitalata（Wiedemann；双翅目：实蝇科）的斗争

昆虫不育技术 (SIT) 涉及大规模饲养和绝育害虫的大面积释放，已被证明可以成功减少、控制和根除具有重要经济意义的害虫物种，例如地中海果蝇 (medfly)。为了有效应用，有效监测以评估释放的地中海果蝇的数量和交配成功率是必不可少的。在这里，我们报告基于精子发生特定 Ceratitis 头 beta2 微管蛋白 (Ccbeta2t) 启动子的精子特定标记系统。荧光精子可以从睾丸或受精囊中分离出来。该标记不会在初步实验室竞争力测定中造成普遍的缺点。因此，转基因精子标记可以作为监测地中海果蝇 SIT 计划的重大改进。使用这种无害的转基因标记将作为将昆虫转基因技术从实验室转移到现场应用的理想初始条件。此外，有效且易于识别的精子标记将使对地中海果蝇生殖生物学的新研究成为可能，这将有助于进一步改进 SIT 计划。