The medfly is an important agricultural pest worldwide and has been the target of extensive control programmes, mainly based on the SIT, since the 1980s. It has become the model species for biological control initiatives against tephritid pests. As such, there has been a great deal of research on medfly biology including its behaviour, reproductive biology, classical and molecular genetics, genetic transformation and integrated pest management strategies. We have initiated a gene discovery project to provide information on the expression and regulation of the genome and to identify genes which may be harnessed for novel control strategies. To this end, we have created expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and oligonucleotide microarrays for the medfly embryo and adult head. Over 24,000 cDNA clones were partially sequenced from two normalised cDNA libraries resulting in more than 21,000 high quality ESTs with an average length of over 700 bp. After assembly, sequences gave rise to almost 12,000 putative transcripts. BLASTX analyses against the non-redundant (nr) protein database resulted in best-hits (e less than 10-5) in 60% of the assembled sequences. The majority of the best-hits were against arthropod sequences (95%) and in particular Drosophila species (90%). Over 40% (4776) of the assembled sequences were assigned a Gene Ontology (GO) classification based on the annotation of the best hit D. melanogaster peptide obtained in BLASTX searches. The assembled sequences represent a broad range of molecular functions and biological processes. Oligonucleotide microarrays were constructed to represent over 12,000 embryo and head cDNA clones. Gene expression assays have been performed and are currently being analysed with the aim of identifying genes (developmental/ behavioural) that may represent targets for the control of this agricultural pest species. This initiative may be of potential interest to the medfly community and all those working on related fruit fly species. It may represent the starting point for the formation of a fruit fly genomic consortium.
A functional genomics initiative for the model species, Ceratitis capitata: a tool for improving pest control.
BERTIN, SABRINA;
2007-01-01
Abstract
The medfly is an important agricultural pest worldwide and has been the target of extensive control programmes, mainly based on the SIT, since the 1980s. It has become the model species for biological control initiatives against tephritid pests. As such, there has been a great deal of research on medfly biology including its behaviour, reproductive biology, classical and molecular genetics, genetic transformation and integrated pest management strategies. We have initiated a gene discovery project to provide information on the expression and regulation of the genome and to identify genes which may be harnessed for novel control strategies. To this end, we have created expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and oligonucleotide microarrays for the medfly embryo and adult head. Over 24,000 cDNA clones were partially sequenced from two normalised cDNA libraries resulting in more than 21,000 high quality ESTs with an average length of over 700 bp. After assembly, sequences gave rise to almost 12,000 putative transcripts. BLASTX analyses against the non-redundant (nr) protein database resulted in best-hits (e less than 10-5) in 60% of the assembled sequences. The majority of the best-hits were against arthropod sequences (95%) and in particular Drosophila species (90%). Over 40% (4776) of the assembled sequences were assigned a Gene Ontology (GO) classification based on the annotation of the best hit D. melanogaster peptide obtained in BLASTX searches. The assembled sequences represent a broad range of molecular functions and biological processes. Oligonucleotide microarrays were constructed to represent over 12,000 embryo and head cDNA clones. Gene expression assays have been performed and are currently being analysed with the aim of identifying genes (developmental/ behavioural) that may represent targets for the control of this agricultural pest species. This initiative may be of potential interest to the medfly community and all those working on related fruit fly species. It may represent the starting point for the formation of a fruit fly genomic consortium.
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