Gene drives are transmission distorters that can transmit specific alleles to >90% of the progeny, e.g., the naturally occurring t -haplotype in mice. For invasive pest species, there is interest in co-opting naturally occurring gene drives. It is unknown whether similar natural gene drives exist in the European rabbit, one of the most detrimental pest species in Australia. Here, we analysed the allele-specific expression (ASE) in rabbit spermatids to identify candidate genes for future investigation in genetic biocontrol applications. We utilised short-read and long-read technologies and performed a comparative analysis. Illumina sequencing was deemed unsuitable, whereas both long-read sequencing platforms demonstrated a similar performance. The SPINK2 gene that plays an important role in fertility, consistently showed ASE towards one of the alleles in all samples. Furthermore, two kinases were found to display a bimodal allele expression. Future work is warranted to assess suitability of these genes for genetic biocontrol applications. • Long read single-cell RNA-seq enables detection of allele-specific expression. • ONT and PacBio platforms provide comparable data for haplotype identification. • Several genes in rabbit spermatids exhibit allele-specific expression. • Allele-specific expression could offer opportunities for genetic biocontrol of pests.
Smertina et al. (Sun,) studied this question.