The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the importation and interstate transport of insects that are plant pests (see Federal Plant Pest Regulations), and the importation of transgenic insects that contain vector or donor sequences from a plant pest or an unclassified organism (see Federal Genetically-Engineered Plant Pest Regulations).

A list of plant pest species is given in Federal Genetically-Engineered Plant Pest Regulations. A few organisms have been added to this list since the regulations were written, but it’s unlikely the pest status has changed for any organism the typical fly geneticist might be interested in. If you have questions about the pest status of a species, you may contact Biotechnology Regulatory Services.

Only a small number of species have donated sequences to existing Drosophila constructs. We have classified these donor species below. Many of these species have donated epitope tags, not full-length genes.

Note that no Vertebrate is considered a plant pest.

Castor Bean (Ricinus communis) is not a plant pest, but the only Select Agent gene sequence that is commonly used in Drosophila transgenic constructs is the Castor Bean Ricin A chain gene. There are special regulations concerning the importation and possession of Select Agents that you should be familiar with before bringing these biological reagents into your lab.

Cabbage Looper Moth (Trichoplusia ni) is a plant pest. The piggyBac transformation system was derived from Trichoplusia, so piggyBac inverted repeats and transposase sequences fall under USDA regulations concerning the importation of plant pest sequences. Consequently, permits for importing piggyBac constructs must be obtained by completing the e-permits application as described in Applying for permits to import flies carrying transgenic constructs with sequences from plant pests. Since piggyBac sequences are the most common plant pest sequence in Drosophila transgenic constructs, we have requested that the USDA officially reclassify piggyBac system components as nonregulated articles when used in Drosophila transgenic constructs. If this request is approved, we will be able to apply for import permits for piggyBac strains using the simpler courtesy permit application rather than the current standard permit application.

Transgenic strains carrying sequences from animal pathogens such as Clostridium and animal viruses may require additional import permits. We advise you to contact Biotechnology Regulatory Services with questions about permit requirements for importing such fly strains.