The application of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes continues to increase in response to requests from Member States. These requests include the development and refinement of SIT packages for programmes to control populations of different insect pests of agricultural, veterinary and human health importance. The development and operational application of such programmes with an SIT component against human disease vectors depends on the efficiency of irradiated sterile males to induce sterility in the target populations. Irradiation, in combination with other steps in the workflow from production to release of the sterile males is a critical point ultimately affecting performance in the field. Quality control is critical at every step of the SIT workflow, both pre- and post-irradiation.
This CRP will be the opportunity to investigate the impact of endogenous factors such as stage, age and genetic background on irradiation efficacy, as well as physiological mechanisms associated with genetic variation in radiation responses. We will also explore the impact of exogenous factors on radio-sensitivity, such as temperature, density, oxygen availability, irradiation source, dose-rate and energy of the rays. Other important aspects to characterize is the impact of irradiation on vectorial capacity of females, as well as on the cytoplasmic incompatibility and pathogen interference conferred by Wolbachia infection.
Finally, it will be important to develop and validate new quality control tools to monitor the product quality along the production chain and compare it between production and release centres.