- Title
- Control of cane toads by sterile male release and inherited sterility
- Creator
- Mahony, Michael; Clulow, John
- Relation
- Invasive Animals CRC/CSIRO/Qld NRM&W Cane Toad Workshop. Science of Cane Toad Invasion and Control: Proceedings of the Invasive Animals CRC/CSIRO/Qld NRM&W Cane Toad Workshop (Brisbane, Qld 5-6 June, 2006) p. 134-150
- Relation
- http://www.invasiveanimals.com/publications/proceedings/index.html
- Publisher
- Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2006
- Description
- We consider the possibility of biological control of the invasive cane toad by application of a sterile male release program. Our approach was initiated by two primary observations, 1) sterile male release programs (commonly called the sterile insect technique) have been successful in controlling a number of insect pests in area wide programs, and 2) sterility occurs naturally in frogs under certain circumstances indicating that there are methods to produce sterile cane toads. Sterile male release as a form of biological control is a species specific and environmentally non-polluting method of population control that relies on the mass rearing, sterilization and release of a large number of individuals with fitness equivalent to wild type animals. Released sterile males compete for and mate with wild females, reducing their reproductive output and, ultimately, if enough sterile males are released for a sufficient length of time, eradication of the population is achieved. Sterile adult frogs have been detected in nature and indicate that there are means by which sterility can be induced in the cane toad. Specific cases involve the occurrence of chromosomal variants in the number of haploid genome complements. The majority of animals are diploid (2n) having two of each chromosome per nuclei. In a small number of cases species have evolved by duplication of entire genomes (polyploidization) which persist because the level of duplication is even (usually 4n) and therefore meiosis is balanced. Where even numbered polyploid taxa (4n) interact with their diploid progenitors (2n) they form triploid hybrids (4n x 2n = 3n) which are sterile due to uneven chromosome numbers. In other situations rare sterile triploids occur within diploid species. Triploids grow and develop similar to diploids and display normal fitness, however the occurrence of uneven numbered chromosome complements means that meiosis is disrupted and the animal sterile. We have investigated the development of a genetically modified stock of cane toads that would be ideal for a male-only sterile release program. To that end we have developed a method for making sterile male via triploid and tetraploidy. We outline the methods that would be necessary to produce only sterile males for a control program.
- Subject
- cane toads; biological control; sterilization; population control
- Identifier
- uon:2858
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/31883
- Identifier
- ISBN:097757072X
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