Savakis laboratory
Currrent work
We are developing transposon-based transgenesis and mutagenesis systems in insects and in mammals, using the Minos mobile element as our basic tool. In parallel, we are using these systems for functional genomic analysis and for development of novel genetic methodologies to control populations of insects of economic and health importance.
Minos, a Tc1-like Type 2 transposable element of Drosophila hydei [1-4], is active in a variety of insect species [5-10]. In addition, Minos is active in human cultured cells [11] and in mouse somatic and germ line cells [12,13]. Minos-mediated germ line transformation of the Medfly, Ceratitis capitata, a major agricultural pest, was the first demonstration of transposon-mediated transgenesis in insects other than Drosophila [5]. Minos-based insertional mutagenesis in Drosophila melanogaster promises to be an important tool for genome-wide functional analysis in this model organism [14]. We are currently constructing and testing transposon vectors for insertional “knock-out” and ectopic activation mutagenesis in Drosophila melanogaster and other insects.
We are also building a «molecular genetic toolbox» and developing systems for insect pest control through genetic engineering, focusing on the Medfly as a model organism for non-Drosophila dipterans of economic importance [15-28]. In this line of work, we have provided proof-of-principle for a novel technology (SIPP, Sensitization of Insect Populations to Pro-insecticides), which can be useful for genetic sexing and insect population control [25]. We are currently developing a SIPP prototype based on a commercially available pro-insecticide.
In addition, in a long-standing collaboration with the group of Kostas Bourtzis, University of Ioannina, we are actively engaged in the study of the biology of an endosymbiotic bacterium of insects, Wolbachia pipientis, and the extrapolation of the reproductive alterations that Wolbachia induces to its hosts to the field of applied biology [30-34] (see the K. Bourtzis web page for more information). One recent outcome of this collaboration was the achievement of horizontal transfer of Wolbachia into laboratory Medfly populations, which resulted in endosymbiont-induced sterility [35].
To facilitate practical applications of our work, we have launched a spin-off Biotechnology company, Minos BioSystems Ltd . The company is commercializing the transposon-based technologies developed in the lab in two areas, production of protein pharmaceuticals and functional genomics.
