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Analysis of the workers head transcriptome of the Asian subterranean termite, Coptotermes gestroi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2010

F.C. Leonardo
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CEP: 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
A.F. da Cunha
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Bioquímica e Biotecnologia molecular, Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Via Washington Luis Km 235, CEP:13565-905, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
M.J. da Silva
Affiliation:
Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Avenida Cândido Rondon, 400, CEP: 13083-875, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
M.F. Carazzolle
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CEP: 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil Centro Nacional de Processamento de Alto Desempenho em São Paulo, Rua Saturnino Brito, 45, Cidade Universitária, CEP: 13083-889, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
A.M. Costa-Leonardo
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biologia, Unesp, Univ. Estadual Paulista, Avenida 24 A Universidade Estadual Paulista, Avenida 24a, Bela Vista, CEP: 13506-900, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
F.F. Costa
Affiliation:
Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Rua Carlos Chagas, 480, CEP: 13083-878, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
G.A. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Genômica e Expressão, Departamento de Genética Evolução e Bioagentes, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CEP: 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
*
*Author for correspondence Fax: 0055-19-35216235 E-mail: goncalo@unicamp.br

Abstract

The lower termite, Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), is originally from Southeast Asia and has become a pest in Brazil. The main goal of this study was to survey C. gestroi transcriptome composition. To accomplish this, we sequenced and analyzed 3003 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) isolated from libraries of worker heads. After assembly, 695 uniESTs were obtained from which 349 have similarity with known sequences. Comparison with insect genomes demonstrated similarity, primarily with genes from Apis mellifera (28%), Tribolium castaneum (28%) and Aedes aegypti (10%). Notably, we identified two endogenous cellulases in the sequences, which may be of interest for biotechnological applications. The results presented in this work represent the first genomic study of the Asian subterranean termite, Coptotermes gestroi.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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