| The pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) is a worldwide pest of cultivated cotton. Genetic control programs aimed at suppressing wild populations of this insect could benefit from transformation technology. Transposable elements such as P, hobo, Hermes, mariner, and Minos have been successfully harnessed as gene vectors to achieve the germline transformation of several dipteran species including Drosophila melanogaster, Ceratitis capitata, and Aedes aegypti. The success of these systems depends upon a functional element, a marker gene that can be screened among G;The Drosophila melanogaster Notch gene encodes a transmembrane receptor protein important in signal transduction pathways leading to specification of cell fate. The isolation of Notch homologues from several species has demonstrated a remarkable conservation of the gene family. These similarities were used to identify the first lepidopteran Notch homologue from the pink bollworm. A D. melanogaster Notch mutation whose phenotype is a dominant conditional lethal may be a useful allele to augment genetic control strategies already in place for pink bollworm. Introduction of a similar mutation into the lepidopteran genome by germline transformation should allow testing of this hypothesis. |
