Lucilia cuprina genome unlocks parasitic fly biology to underpin future interventions

Abstract

Lucilia cuprina is a parasitic fly of major economic importance worldwide. Larvae of this fly invade their animal host, feed on tissues and excretions and progressively cause severe skin disease (myiasis). Here we report the sequence and annotation of the 458-megabase draft genome of Lucilia cuprina. Analyses of this genome and the 14,544 predicted protein-encoding genes provide unique insights into the fly's molecular biology, interactions with the host animal and insecticide resistance. These insights have broad implications for designing new methods for the prevention and control of myiasis.

Genome of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), a globally significant invasive species, reveals key functional and evolutionary innovations at the beetle–plant interface

“…The A. glabripennis genome assembly was subjected to automatic gene annotation using a MAKER 2.0 [18, 24, 62] annotation pipeline tuned for arthropods. Both protein and RNA-seq evidence from extant arthropod gene sets were used to guide gene models.…”

Genome sequence of Phormia regina Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae): implications for medical, veterinary and forensic research

“…The genic characteristics of the exonic regions and intronic regions of the predicted genes in both sexes show a total of ~30,000 exons and 20,000 introns (Table 3). The total number of predicted protein-encoding genes in our assembled genomes was small compared to other recently sequenced Dipterans such as Lucilia cuprina (14,544 genes) [38] and Musca domestica (15,345 genes) [4]. This may be due to the high stringency we used for gene prediction where only complete genes (gene sequences with start and stop codons present within individual contigs) were allowed.…”

“… a Statistics of the genic structure for L. cuprina were obtained from Anstead et al in [38], and for M. domestica from Scott et al in…”

“…Recently, the first calliphorid genome, from the sheep blow fly ( Lucilia cuprina, [38]), was released. The publication of the L. cuprina draft genome brings with it the potential for studying a group of flies that have evolved recently [1, 2, 39], and have adopted many different life histories [6].…”

“…The publication of the L. cuprina draft genome brings with it the potential for studying a group of flies that have evolved recently [1, 2, 39], and have adopted many different life histories [6]. For example, the sheep blow fly specimen(s) that was sequenced was from a location in which it is predominantly, if not exclusively, an obligate ectoparasite (infestation of living vertebrate tissue by fly larvae) [38], and has presumably adapted under selective pressures from subsisting on carrion to infesting live animals. Calliphorid genomes will provide the necessary resources needed to understand the basic biological processes of lineage-specific traits in myiasis-causing flies.…”