bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.15.421271; this version posted December 15, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. A CRISPR endonuclease gene drive reveals two distinct mechanisms of inheritance bias Sebald A. N. Verkuijl1,2,+, Estela Gonzalez1,+, Ming Li3, Joshua Ang1, Nikolay P. Kandul3, Michelle A. E. Anderson1, Omar S. Akbari3, Michael B. Bonsall2, and Luke Alphey1,* 1Arthropod Genetics, The Pirbright Institute, Ash Road, Pirbright GU24 0NF, U.K 2Mathematical Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, U.K 3Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, United States, 92093 +these authors contributed equally to this work *
[email protected] ABSTRACT RNA guided CRISPR gene drives have shown the capability of biasing transgene inheritance in multiple species. Among these, homing endonuclease drives are the most developed. In this study, we report the functioning of sds3, bgcn, and nup50 expressed Cas9 in an Aedes aegypti homing split drive system targeting the white gene. We report their inheritance biasing capability, propensity for maternal deposition, and zygotic/somatic expression. Additionally, by making use of the tight linkage of white to the sex-determining locus, we were able to elucidate mechanisms of inheritance bias. We find inheritance bias through homing in double heterozygous males, but find that a previous report of the same drive occurred through meiotic drive.