Abiotic environments can modify the penetrance of transgene-based lethality systems for insect population control

Modern genetic biocontrol techniques for insect pest management, when compared to chemical insecticide spraying, offer high species specificity and reduced environmental impact. However, some of these methods require the environmental release of genetically modified insects. Because organisms exposed to different environments often show variability in phenotype and gene expression, it is likely that genetically modified insects will also experience environmentally mediated variation, potentially compromising pest control efficiency. This study examines the impact of temperature and nutrition on the early embryonic Tet-off conditional lethality system in Drosophila melanogaster. By independently manipulating parental and offspring environments, we assessed how treatment exposure influenced the probability of larval hatching and the transcript abundance of the transgenic system. Our findings revealed that (1) transgene performance distinctly responds to temperature and nutrition, (2) thermal stress has a greater impact when embryos, rather than parents, are exposed, and (3) extreme nutritional conditions can markedly reduce the penetrance of transgenic lethality. Although changes in transgene transcript abundance were observed, they did not fully explain the phenotypic variation, suggesting that factors downstream of transcription likely drive variation in transgenic lethality.

Methods
There are two kinds of experiments, larvae hatching and transcript abundance.

Larvae hatching - 3 files

Describes the frequency of hatching events in a sample of embryos.

Files:
AbioticStress-dataset-hatching-temperature.csv
AbioticStress-dataset-hatching-nutrition.csv
AbioticStress-dataset-hatching-nutrition.csv

Transcript abundance - 5 files

Describes the cycle threshold (CT) values of quantitative PCR experiments

Files:
TransgenicExpression-dataset-nutrition-adult.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-nutrition-development.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-adult.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-devo.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-embryo.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-shock.csv

This data is associated with manuscript RSPB-2025-0307, Fernan Rodrigo Perez Galvez, February 1, 2025.

相较于化学杀虫剂喷施，用于害虫治理的现代遗传生物防治技术具备极高的物种特异性，且对环境的负面影响更低。但此类部分技术需要向环境中释放转基因昆虫。由于暴露于不同环境的生物体往往会在表型与基因表达上出现变异，转基因昆虫也大概率会出现环境介导的表型变化，这可能会削弱害虫防治的效果。本研究探讨了温度与营养条件对黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）胚胎早期Tet-off条件致死系统（Tet-off conditional lethality system）的影响。通过独立调控亲本与子代的环境，我们评估了处理条件对幼虫孵化率以及转基因系统转录本丰度（transcript abundance）的影响。研究结果显示：（1）转基因元件的功能会显著响应温度与营养条件的变化；（2）当胚胎（而非亲本）暴露于热胁迫时，其受影响程度更为显著；（3）极端营养条件可大幅降低转基因致死系统的外显率。尽管我们观测到了转基因元件转录本丰度的变化，但这无法完全解释表型变异，这提示转录后调控因素可能是转基因致死系统表型变异的驱动因素。

实验方法
本研究包含两类实验：幼虫孵化率实验与转录本丰度检测实验。

幼虫孵化率实验：共3份数据文件
该实验描述了胚胎样本的孵化事件发生频率。
数据文件包括：
AbioticStress-dataset-hatching-temperature.csv
AbioticStress-dataset-hatching-nutrition.csv
AbioticStress-dataset-hatching-nutrition.csv

转录本丰度检测实验：共6份数据文件
该实验记录了定量PCR实验的循环阈值（cycle threshold, CT）值。
数据文件包括：
TransgenicExpression-dataset-nutrition-adult.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-nutrition-development.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-adult.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-devo.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-embryo.csv
TransgenicExpression-dataset-temperature-shock.csv

本数据集关联论文RSPB-2025-0307，作者Fernan Rodrigo Perez Galvez，2025年2月1日。