Abstract
BackgroundThe Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a major destructive insect pest due to its broad host range, which includes hundreds of fruits and vegetables. It exhibits a unique ability to invade and adapt to ecological niches throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, though medfly infestations have been prevented and controlled by the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of integrated pest management programs (IPMs). The genetic analysis and manipulation of medfly has been subject to intensive study in an effort to improve SIT efficacy and other aspects of IPM control.ResultsThe 479 Mb medfly genome is sequenced from adult flies from lines inbred for 20 generations. A high-quality assembly is achieved having a contig N50 of 45.7 kb and scaffold N50 of 4.06 Mb. In-depth curation of more than 1800 messenger RNAs shows specific gene expansions that can be related to invasiveness and host adaptation, including gene families for chemoreception, toxin and insecticide metabolism, cuticle proteins, opsins, and aquaporins. We identify genes relevant to IPM control, including those required to improve SIT.ConclusionsThe medfly genome sequence provides critical insights into the biology of one of the most serious and widespread agricultural pests. This knowledge should significantly advance the means of controlling the size and invasive potential of medfly populations. Its close relationship to Drosophila, and other insect species important to agriculture and human health, will further comparative functional and structural studies of insect genomes that should broaden our understanding of gene family evolution.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-016-1049-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is a major destructive insect pest due to its broad host range, which includes hundreds of fruits and vegetables
Its close relationship to Drosophila, and other insect species important to agriculture and human health, will further comparative functional and structural studies of insect genomes that should broaden our understanding of gene family evolution
Structure, orthology, and function Whole genome sequencing and assembly The medfly whole genome sequencing (WGS) project reported here is a continuation of an initial project initiated at HGSC that is summarized in Additional file 1: Supplementary material A
Summary
The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a major destructive insect pest due to its broad host range, which includes hundreds of fruits and vegetables. It exhibits a unique ability to invade and adapt to ecological niches throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, though medfly infestations have been prevented and controlled by the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of integrated pest management programs (IPMs). Has been an established lab organism for several decades and is notable as being the closest nondrosophilid relative to Drosophila subject to intensive genetic analysis, with broad chromosomal syntenic relationships established These studies have been largely driven by efforts to use genetic manipulation to improve the sterile insect technique (SIT), which is the primary biologically based method used to control medfly as a component of area-wide multi-tactical integrated pest management (IPM) approaches, which include the use of natural enemies and insecticide/bait formulations. Medfly has served as a model system for developing genetic analyses and manipulations that might improve these population control programs that are applicable to a large number of tephritid fruit fly species throughout the world, which range from polyphagous species to ones that are more highly specialized
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