Abstract
BackgroundTsetse flies, vectors of African trypanosomes, undergo viviparous reproduction (the deposition of live offspring). This reproductive strategy results in a large maternal investment and the deposition of a small number of progeny during a female's lifespan. The reproductive biology of tsetse has been studied on a physiological level; however the molecular analysis of tsetse reproduction requires deeper investigation. To build a foundation from which to base molecular studies of tsetse reproduction, a cDNA library was generated from female tsetse (Glossina morsitans morsitans) reproductive tissues and the intrauterine developmental stages. 3438 expressed sequence tags were sequenced and analyzed.ResultsAnalysis of a nonredundant catalogue of 1391 contigs resulted in 520 predicted proteins. 475 of these proteins were full length. We predict that 412 of these represent cytoplasmic proteins while 57 are secreted. Comparison of these proteins with other tissue specific tsetse cDNA libraries (salivary gland, fat body/milk gland, and midgut) identified 51 that are unique to the reproductive/immature cDNA library. 11 unique proteins were homologus to uncharacterized putative proteins within the NR database suggesting the identification of novel genes associated with reproductive functions in other insects (hypothetical conserved). The analysis also yielded seven putative proteins without significant homology to sequences present in the public database (unknown genes). These proteins may represent unique functions associated with tsetse's viviparous reproductive cycle. RT-PCR analysis of hypothetical conserved and unknown contigs was performed to determine basic tissue and stage specificity of the expression of these genes.ConclusionThis paper identifies 51 putative proteins specific to a tsetse reproductive/immature EST library. 11 of these proteins correspond to hypothetical conserved genes and 7 proteins are tsetse specific.
Highlights
Tsetse flies, vectors of African trypanosomes, undergo viviparous reproduction
General description of the reproductive/immature cDNA library A total of 3438 expressed sequence tag (EST) were sequenced from the reproductive library of which 3048 were used for contig generation after quality control screening
Average length of the contigs was 1125 bp with a maximum of 5302 bp and a minimum of 88 bp. The contigs from this library were combined with EST sequence data from the other tissue specific tsetse cDNA libraries
Summary
Vectors of African trypanosomes, undergo viviparous reproduction (the deposition of live offspring). This reproductive strategy results in a large maternal investment and the deposition of a small number of progeny during a female’s lifespan. To build a foundation from which to base molecular studies of tsetse reproduction, a cDNA library was generated from female tsetse (Glossina morsitans morsitans) reproductive tissues and the intrauterine developmental stages. The success of population reduction based control strategies has resulted from the low reproductive potential of tsetse flies. Tsetse has a unique reproductive physiology and developmental cycle They undergo viviparous reproduction (intrauterine development and parturition of live offspring). Viviparous reproduction has arisen independently in other flies and in other orders of insects [2] As a result a single female has the capacity to generate ~8
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