De novo assembly and sex-specific transcriptome profiling in the sand fly Phlebotomus perniciosus (Diptera, Phlebotominae), a major Old World vector of Leishmania infantum. (December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Petrella, V.; Aceto, S.; Musacchia, F.; Colonna, V.; Robinson, M.; Benes, V.; Cicotti, G.; Bongiorno, G.; Gradoni, L.; Volf, P.; Salvemini, M.
• Is Part Of: BMC genomics. Volume 16:Number 1(2015)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 15
• Publication Date: 2015-12
• Subjects: Nematocera -- Sand fly -- Transcriptome de novo assembly -- RNA-seq -- Differential expression analysis -- Sex-specific gene expression -- Sex-biased genes; Genomes -- Periodicals; Gene mapping -- Periodicals; Genomics -- Periodicals; Base Sequence -- Periodicals; Chromosome Mapping -- Periodicals; Genetic Techniques -- Periodicals; Sequence Analysis, DNA -- Periodicals; 572.8605
• DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-2088-x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-2164

Abstract

Abstract Background The phlebotomine sand flyPhlebotomus perniciosus (Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) is a major Old World vector of the protozoanLeishmania infantum, the etiological agent of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniases in humans and dogs, a worldwide re-emerging diseases of great public health concern, affecting 101 countries. Despite the growing interest in the study of this sand fly species in the last years, the development of genomic resources has been limited so far. To increase the available sequence data forP. perniciosus and to start studying the molecular basis of the sexual differentiation in sand flies, we performed whole transcriptome Illumina RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of adult males and females andde novo transcriptome assembly. Results We assembled 55, 393 high quality transcripts, of which 29, 292 were unique, starting from adult whole body male and female pools. 11, 736 transcripts had at least one functional annotation, including full-length low abundance salivary transcripts, 981 transcripts were classified as putative long non-coding RNAs and 244 transcripts encoded for putative novel proteins specific of the Phlebotominae sub-family. Differential expression analysis identified 8590 transcripts significantly biased between sexes. Among them, some show relaxation of selective constraints when compared to their orthologs of the New World sand fly speciesLutzomyia longipalpi s. Conclusions In this paper, we present a comprehensive transcriptome resource for the sand fly speciesP. perniciosus built from short-read RNA-seq and we provide insights into sex-specific gene expression at adult stage. Our analysis represents a first step towards the identification of sex-specific genes and pathways and a foundation for forthcoming investigations into this important vector species, including the study of the evolution of sex-biased genes and of the sexual differentiation in phlebotomine sand flies.