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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #315129
Title: Reconstructing a comprehensive transcriptome assembly of a white-pupal translocated strain of the pest fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae

Author
item SIM, SHEINA - University Of Hawaii
item Calla, Bernarda
item HALL, BRIAN - University Of Hawaii
item DEREGO, THEODORE - University Of Hawaii
item Geib, Scott

Submitted to: Gigascience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/9/2015
Publication Date: 3/31/2015
Citation: Sim, S., Calla Zalles, B., Hall, B., Derego, T., Geib, S.M. 2015. Reconstructing a comprehensive transcriptome assembly of a white-pupal translocated strain of the pest fruit fly Bactrocera cucurbitae. Gigascience. 4:14.

Interpretive Summary: Bactrocera cucurbitae is a pest fruit fly of many fruit and vegetable crops in Asia, the Pacific and Hawaii, and is a species of great concern for introduction into the mainland United States. Little genomic resources exist for this species. Here a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptome, representing all genes express across the life history of this species is presented, representing approximately 10,500 genes in this flies genome. This information will be used as a foundation for functional genomic and population genetic analysis in this species.

Technical Abstract: Background: Bactrocera cucurbitae is an important agricultural pest. Basic genomic information is lacking for this species and this would be useful to inform methods of control, damage mitigation, and eradication efforts. Here, we have sequenced, assembled, and annotated a comprehensive transcriptome for a mass-rearing sexing strain of this species. This forms a foundational genomic and transcriptomic resource that can be used to better understand the physiology and biochemistry of this insect as well as being a useful tool for population genetics. Findings: A transcriptome assembly was constructed containing 17,654 transcript isoforms derived from 10,425 unigenes. This transcriptome size is similar to reports from other Tephritid species and probably includes about 70-80% of the protein-coding genes in the genome. The dataset is publicly available in NCBI as a resource for researchers. Conclusions: Foundational knowledge on the protein-coding genes in B.cucurbitae will lead to improved resources for this species. Through comparison with a model system such as Drosophila as well as a growing number of related Tephritid transcriptomes, improved strategies can be developed to control this pest.