CRISPR/Cas9 mediated mutagenesis has revolutionized the testing of gene function in both model and non-model organisms. The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is the best-studied ant species because of their painful sting, aggressive nature, and their detrimental effects on invaded ecosystems. We have developed a microinjection protocol for CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis of fire ant embryos. As a proof-of-principle we generated individuals mosaic for the knockout of Sinv-spitz or Gp-9. We verified that many injected individuals carry mutations, often to high frequency of the cells within the individual. Observations at the first instar larval stage indicate that mutating Sinv-spitz does not produce a loss of oenocyte phenotype, as would have been expected based on the homologous function of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, spitz. Our success indicates that CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis should be a useful technique for studying gene function in the fire ant at the individual and possibly social levels.

中文翻译：

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CRISPR/Cas9介导的红色输入火蚁Solenopsis invicta的诱变

CRISPR/Cas9 介导的诱变彻底改变了模型和非模型生物中基因功能的测试。红色进口火蚁 Solenopsis invicta 是研究最多的蚂蚁物种，因为它们具有痛苦的刺痛、攻击性以及对入侵生态系统的不利影响。我们开发了一种用于火蚁胚胎 CRISPR/Cas9 诱变的显微注射方案。作为原理证明，我们为 Sinv-spitz 或 Gp-9 的敲除生成了个体马赛克。我们证实许多注射的个体携带突变，通常是个体内细胞的高频率。在第一龄幼虫阶段的观察表明，突变的 Sinv-spitz 不会产生卵母细胞表型的丧失，正如基于果蝇、黑腹果蝇、斯皮茨的同源功能所预期的那样。