CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of the white gene in the tephritid pest Bactrocera tryoni

The Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), is a polyphagous horticultural pest in Australia that is capable of causing significant damage to more than 100 different host fruits and vegetables. Chemical applications and ecological control strategies, such as the sterile insect technique (SIT), are commonly used to suppress established populations and eradicate invasive outbreaks following migration. The recently published B. tryoni draft genome provides new opportunities to identify candidate genes for targeted genome modification in order to generate advanced genetic strains for management using sterile insect strategies. Here, we demonstrate CRISPR/Cas-mediated mutagenesis in B. tryoni through generating a series of frame-shift mutations in the ATP-dependent binding cassette transporter, white, causing a classic white-eye phenotype. This work establishes methods for CRISPR/Cas genome editing in tephritids and demonstrates its potential for developing genetic sexing strains which could be used for SIT-based pest control.