The paper identifies the Y-linked gene draupnir in Anopheles gambiae, showing it escapes transcriptional silencing during spermatogenesis and is necessary for Y-chromosome-based sex-ratio distortion.

bioRxiv · Apr 6, 2026 · PreprintGenetics

Mosquito Sex Separation using Complementation of Selectable Traits and Engineered Neo-Sex Chromosomes

Doron Shalom Yishai Zaada, Or Toren, Flávia Krsticevic, Daniella An Haber, Denys Gildman, Navot Galpaz, Irina Häecker, Marc F. Schetelig, Éric Marois, Yael Arien, Philippos Aris Papathanos

This paper develops a genetic sexing strain in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes by combining CRISPR-engineered selectable traits with sex conversion, enabling efficient and accurate sex separation.

Nature Communications · Dec 11, 2025Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of the white-eye gene in the tephritid pest Bactrocera zonata

Albert Nazarov, Tamir Partosh, Flávia Krsticevic, Dimitris Rallis, Yael Arien, Guy Ostrovsky, Reut Madar Kramer, Eyal Halon, Alfred M. Handler, Simon W. Baxter, Yoav Gazit, Kostas D. Mathiopoulos, Gur Pines, Philippos Aris Papathanos

The paper develops a genetic tool for Bactrocera zonata by creating a chromosome-level genome and CRISPR/Cas9-induced white-eye mutants to aid in Genetic Sexing Strain development.

Insect Science · Aug 29, 2025Peer-reviewedBioengineering

Targeting mosquito X-chromosomes reveals complex transmission dynamics of sex ratio distorting gene drives

Daniella An Haber, Yael Arien, Lee Benjamin Lamdan, Yehonathan Alcalay, Chen Zecharia, Flávia Krsticevic, Elad Shmuel Yonah, Rotem Daniel Avraham, Elzbieta Krzywińska, Jaroslaw Krzywinski, Éric Marois, Nikolai Windbichler, Philippos Aris Papathanos

This study investigates X-poisoning gene drives in mosquitoes, finding that sex distortion is mainly due to loss of X-bearing sperm rather than postzygotic lethality.

Nature Communications · Jun 11, 2024Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

Gene drive and genetic sex conversion in the global agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata

Angela Meccariello, Shibo Hou, Serafima Davydova, James D. Fawcett, Alexandra Siddall, Philip T. Leftwich, Flávia Krsticevic, Philippos Aris Papathanos, Nikolai Windbichler

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of using CRISPR-Cas9 gene drives in the medfly to achieve sex conversion and female sterility, offering a strategy for pest population suppression.

Nature Communications · Jan 8, 2024Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

Detection of sex chromosomes in Tephritid pests using R-CQ and KAMY, two computational methods to enable species specific control.

Dimitris Rallis, Konstantina T. Tsoumani, Flávia Krsticevic, Philippos Aris Papathanos, Georgia Gouvi, Angela Meccariello, Kostas D. Mathiopoulos, Alexie Papanicolaou

The paper introduces two computational methods, R-CQ and KAMY, to detect sex chromosome sequences in Tephritid pests and evaluates their performance on chromosome-level assemblies.

bioRxiv · Oct 27, 2023 · PreprintGenomics

Engineered sex distortion in the global agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata

Angela Meccariello, Flávia Krsticevic, Rita Colonna, Giuseppe Del Corsano, Barbara Fasulo, Philippos Aris Papathanos, Nikolai Windbichler

The paper engineers sex distortion in Ceratitis capitata using CRISPR/Cas9 and Cas12a to bias sex ratios towards males.

BMC Biology · Apr 16, 2021Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

Improved reference genome of the arboviral vector Aedes albopictus

Umberto Palatini, Reem A. Masri, Luciano V. Cosme, Sergey Koren, Françoise Thibaud‐Nissen, James Kite Biedler, Flávia Krsticevic, J. Spencer Johnston, Rebecca Halbach, Jacob E. Crawford, Igor A. Antoshechkin, Anna‐Bella Failloux, Elisa Pischedda, Michele Marconcini, Jay Ghurye, , Mariangela Bonizzoni

The paper presents an improved genome assembly of Aedes albopictus, revealing new biological features and enabling population and developmental studies.

Genome biology · Aug 26, 2020Peer-reviewedGenomics