3: Genomics through the lens of pest management: How reference-quality assemblies and global collaboration are bringing the sterile insect technique to the 21st century

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a concept devised by Knipling in the 1950s for the genetic control of pestiferous insects that is being implemented in pest management programs worldwide. Through the release of sterile males, SIT provides an environmentally friendly approach that is a species-specific with few off-target effects but relies on damaging irradiation and manual sorting for mass-release of sterile male-only agents. Through the development of novel genomic techniques, reference-quality and chromosome-scale genome assemblies are accessible to investigators of non-model systems and can now be applied to make advancements in SIT. In our research, we employ third-generation sequencing technologies and techniques such as single-molecule sequencing, linked-read sequencing, HiC mapping, and optical mapping to identify genes and loci which can be exploited to produce conditional lethal sex-specific phenotypes that will facilitate male-only releases which could cut programmatic costs of SIT in half. These results are currently being applied in international collaborations where we are working to develop novel genetic sexing strains to improve current SIT programs and establish new programs for emerging tephritid pest species worldwide.