Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of arthropod-borne viruses including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Vector population control methods are reviving to impede disease transmission. An efficient sex separation for male-only releases is crucial for area-wide mosquito population suppression strategies. Here, we report on the construction of two genetic sexing strains using red- and white-eye colour mutations as selectable markers. Quality control analysis showed that the Red-eye genetic sexing strains (GSS) is better and more genetically stable than the White-eye GSS. The introduction of an irradiation-induced inversion (Inv35) increases genetic stability and reduces the probability of female contamination of the male release batches. Bi-weekly releases of irradiated males of both the Red-eye GSS and the Red-eye GSS/Inv35 fully suppressed target laboratory cage populations within six and nine weeks, respectively. An image analysis algorithm allowing sex determination based on eye colour identification at the pupal stage was developed. The next step is to automate the Red-eye-based genetic sexing and validate it in pilot trials prior to its integration in large-scale population suppression programmes.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Novel control strategies for mosquito-borne diseases’.

埃及伊蚊是节肢动物传播的病毒（包括登革热、基孔肯雅热和寨卡病毒）的主要载体。病媒种群控制方法正在复兴，以阻止疾病传播。仅雄性释放的有效性别分离对于区域性蚊子种群抑制策略至关重要。在这里，我们报告了使用红眼和白眼颜色突变作为选择标记构建两种遗传性别鉴定品系。质量控制分析表明，红眼遗传性别鉴定品系（GSS）比白眼GSS更好且遗传更稳定。辐照诱导反转 (Inv35) 的引入提高了遗传稳定性，并降低了雄性放行批次中雌性污染的可能性。每两周释放一次受辐射的雄性红眼 GSS 和红眼 GSS/Inv35 分别在六周和九周内完全抑制了目标实验室笼子种群。开发了一种图像分析算法，允许基于蛹阶段眼睛颜色识别来确定性别。下一步是使基于红眼的基因性别鉴定自动化，并在试点试验中对其进行验证，然后再将其纳入大规模人口抑制计划。

本文是主题“蚊媒疾病的新型控制策略”的一部分。