Transcriptome Analysis of the Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Integument

MORICONI, DÉBORA E; DULBECCO, ANDREA B; DULBECCO, ANDREA B; JUÁREZ, M PATRICIA; JUÁREZ, M PATRICIA; CALDERÓN-FERNÁNDEZ, GUSTAVO M; CALDERÓN-FERNÁNDEZ, GUSTAVO M; MORICONI, DÉBORA E

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER

Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2017 vol. 54 p. 1531 - 1542

0022-2585

The insect integument, formed by the cuticle and the underlying epidermis, is essential for insect fitness, regulationof lipid biosynthesis and storage, insect growth and feeding, together with development progress. Its participationin insecticide resistance has also been outlined. Triatoma infestans Klug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) is one of themajor vectors of Chagas disease in South America; however, genomic data are scarce. In this study, we performeda transcriptome analysis of the nymph integument in order to identify which genes are expressed and their putativerole. Using the 454 GS-FLX sequencing platform, we obtained approximately 144,620 reads from the integumenttissue. These reads were assembled into 6,495 isotigs and 8,504 singletons. Based on BLAST similarity searches,about 8,000 transcripts were annotated with known genes, conserved domains, and/or Gene Ontology terms.The most abundant transcripts corresponded to transcription factors and nucleic acid metabolism, membranereceptors, cell signaling, and proteins related to cytoskeleton, transport, and cell energy processes, among others.More than 10% of the transcripts-encoded proteins putatively involved in the metabolism of fatty acids and relatedcomponents (fatty acid synthases, elongases, desaturases, fatty alcohol reductases), structural integument proteins,and the insecticide detoxification system (among them, cytochrome P450s, esterases, and glutathione transferases).Real-time qPCR assays were used to investigate their putative participation in the resistance mechanism. Thispreliminary study is the first transcriptome analysis of a triatomine integument, and together with prior biochemicalinformation, will help further understandthe role of the integument in a wide array of mechanisms.