Fig. 4. Fitness of transgenic and non-transgenic males compared to wild type.

Black dots with vertical bars represent the mean value and 95% CI in the competitiveness and male flight ability assays. The thin coloured dots in the squares above and below the estimates represent individual data points (n), while the large coloured dots around the estimates represent the mean values of each replicate (N). Significant differences between the lines are indicated in the figure (n.s.: no significant difference. *p-value < 0.1, **p-value < 0.01, ***p-value < 0.001). The competitiveness of males of the Aaeg-M line relatively to Bra (WT) or Aaeg-CS in Ae. aegypti (a) and the competitiveness of males of the Aal-M line relatively to BiA (WT) and Aal-CS in Ae. albopictus (b) were compared by measuring the number of transgenic and non-transgenic L1 larvae in the progeny of each of the N = 5 replicates. Results were compared to the percentage expected if transgenic males were as competitive as non-transgenic males (dashed line) and were analysed using a generalised mixed-effects model with a binomial distribution and replicates as a random effect. The flight ability of transgenic and non-transgenic males compared to the wild-type in Ae. aegypti (c), and Ae. albopictus (d) was tested by N = 3 replicates in a reference flight test device (“FTD”). The results were analysed using a generalised mixed-effect model with a binomial distribution and replicates as a random effect. Survival of adult males 14 days after emergence was monitored in Ae. aegypti (e) and Ae. albopictus (f) lines. N = 4 replicates were performed for each line. All values being above 90%, the y-axis is discontinuous between 0 and 90% for better visualisation. Male survival at 7 and 14 days was compared using the log-rank test and neither comparison was significantly different. Figure designed on BioRender.com.