An international team of scientists led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researcher Joanne Yew may have discovered
a new and effective way to control insect pests that are a threat to agriculture and humans. Yew and her team
identified a gene in vinegar flies responsible for the insect’s waterproof coating, which provides them protection
from microbes and environmental stress. They named the gene spidey and announced the findings in a recently
published study In PLoS Genetics.
Spidey is important for regulating levels of a steroid hormone, which maintains wax-producing cells. This hormone
was already known to play a crucial role in the development and metamorphosis of fly larvae. The researchers did
not expect that steroid hormones would play such a central role in maintaining adult tissues, such as the wax-
producing cells. Yew and her colleagues now plan to knock out spidey in pest species like Oriental, Mediterranean
and melon fruit flies, which are a major threat to agriculture, and possibly mosquitoes, which can carry human
diseases, to see if they lose their waterproofing ability like the vinegar flies.
Tuesday, 05 July 2016
Joanne Yew may have discovered a new and effective way to control insect pests Featured
- Additional Links: UH Manoa Press Release