A Molecular Approach to Control Pathogen-Carrying Mosquitoes

Overview
Tropical diseases transferred by mosquitoes form a devastating health problem in Third World countries. Traditionally, vector-borne diseases are combated through massive applications of pesticides which harm the environment. More sophisticated methods to control mosquitoes use biological control agents such as Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis). However due to its low efficacy the use of this agent is limited by economical constraints.

We have developed a sophisticated method to biologically control mosquitoes by cloning the bti genes responsible for toxicity into organisms which expresses them coordinately and which are ingested by the mosquitoes. Mosquitocidal d -endotoxin genes, separately or in different combinations, were introduced into rice-field nitrogen fixing cyanobacterial strains.

The abundance of cyanobacteria in water bodies, particularly in rice fields, and their ability to float in the upper layer and to resist different environmental conditions, are unique features which make them good candidates for carrying the genes for toxicity. We would like to offer our transgenic cyanobacteria as an efficient and cost effective insecticide. Since our laboratory transgenic strains showed remarkable stability over several years, we assume that the transgenic cyanobacterial strains are safe to use in the open environment.

Patent
PCT Patent Application Filed

Collaboration Sought
Licensing and further development including field trials.