The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a pest control strategy involving the mass release of radiation-sterilized insects, which reduce the target population through nonviable matings. In Lepidoptera, SIT could be more broadly applicable if the deleterious effects of sterilization by irradiation could be avoided. Moreover, male-only release can improve the efficacy of SIT. Adequate methods of male-only production in Lepidoptera are currently lacking, in contrast to some Diptera. We describe a synthetic genetic system that allows male-only moth production for SIT and also replaces radiation sterilization with inherited female-specific lethality. We sequenced and characterized the doublesex (dsx) gene from the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella). Sex-alternate splicing from dsx was used to develop a conditional lethal genetic sexing system in two pest moths: the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and pink bollworm. This system shows promise for enhancing existing pink bollworm SIT, as well as broadening SIT-type control to diamondback moth and other Lepidoptera.

中文翻译：

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专门为控制害虫鳞翅目而设计的针对女性的致死性。

昆虫不育技术（SIT）是一种有害生物控制策略，涉及大量释放经辐射灭菌的昆虫，这可通过不可行的交配减少目标种群。在鳞翅目中，SIT可以更广泛地应用，如果可以避免辐射灭菌的有害影响。此外，仅男性释放可以提高SIT的疗效。与某些双翅目相反，鳞翅目目前缺乏适当的仅雄性生产方法。我们描述了一种合成的遗传系统，该系统允许仅雄性蛾进行SIT生产，还可以用遗传的雌性特定杀伤力代替辐射灭菌。我们对粉红色铃虫（Pectinophora gossypiella）的doublesex（dsx）基因进行了测序和鉴定。dsx的性别交替剪接被用于在两种害虫蛾中形成条件致死的遗传性别鉴定系统：小菜蛾（Plutella xylostella）和粉红色铃虫。该系统显示出增强现有粉红色铃虫SIT的前景，并扩大了对小菜蛾和其他鳞翅目昆虫的SIT类型控制。