Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

ProfessorAustinBurt

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences (Silwood Park)

Professor of Evolutionary Genetics
 
 
 
//

Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 2266a.burt

 
 
//

Location

 

Silwood ParkSilwood Park

//

Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Lambert:2018:10.1186/s12936-018-2259-8,
author = {Lambert, B and North, A and Burt, A and Godfray, HCJ},
doi = {10.1186/s12936-018-2259-8},
journal = {MALARIA JOURNAL},
title = {The use of driving endonuclease genes to suppress mosquito vectors of malaria in temporally variable environments},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2259-8},
volume = {17},
year = {2018}
}
Download

RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BackgroundThe use of gene drive systems to manipulate populations of malaria vectors is currently being investigated as a method of malaria control. One potential system uses driving endonuclease genes (DEGs) to spread genes that impose a genetic load. Previously, models have shown that the introduction of DEG-bearing mosquitoes could suppress or even extinguish vector populations in spatially-heterogeneous environments which were constant over time. In this study, a stochastic spatially-explicit model of mosquito ecology is combined with a rainfall model which enables the generation of a variety of daily precipitation patterns. The model is then used to investigate how releases of a DEG that cause a bias in population sex ratios towards males are affected by seasonal or random rainfall patterns. The parameters of the rainfall model are then fitted using data from Bamako, Mali, and Mbita, Kenya, to evaluate release strategies in similar climatic conditions.ResultsIn landscapes with abundant resources and large mosquito populations the spread of a DEG is reliable, irrespective of variability in rainfall. This study thus focuses mainly on landscapes with low density mosquito populations where the spread of a DEG may be sensitive to variation in rainfall. It is found that an introduced DEG will spread into its target population more reliably in wet conditions, yet an established DEG will have more impact in dry conditions. In strongly seasonal environments, it is thus preferable to release DEGs at the onset of a wet season to maximize their spread before the following dry season. If the variability in rainfall has a substantial random component, there is a net increase in the probability that a DEG release will lead to population extinction, due to the increased impact of a DEG which manages to establish in these conditions. For Bamako, where annual rainfall patterns are characterized by a long dry season, it is optimal to release a DEG at the start of the wet season
AU  - Lambert,B
AU  - North,A
AU  - Burt,A
AU  - Godfray,HCJ
DO  - 10.1186/s12936-018-2259-8
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 1475-2875
TI  - The use of driving endonuclease genes to suppress mosquito vectors of malaria in temporally variable environments
T2  - MALARIA JOURNAL
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2259-8
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000429278600005&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/60007
VL  - 17
ER  -
Download