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Title: EST-based gene indices for the cattle fever tick, the horn fly, and the screwworm fly

Author
item Guerrero, Felicito
item WANG, M - LORUS THERAPEUTICS-CANADA
item NENE, V - U/MD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
item Dowd, Scot
item Saldivar, Leonel

Submitted to: Developments in Biologicals
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/12/2008
Publication Date: 6/13/2008
Citation: Guerrero, F., Wang, M., Nene, V.M., Dowd, S.E., Saldivar, L. 2008. Est-based gene indices for the cattle fever tick, the horn fly, and the screwworm fly. Developments in Biologicals. 132:115-120.

Interpretive Summary: The southern cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, the horn fly, Haematobia irritans, and the New World screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, are economically important parasites of cattle throughout the world. Understanding the biology and genomics of these pests is critical to developing novel control methods. We have developed databases containing DNA sequences for genes from these parasites and used bioinformatic analysis to identify protein coding regions and assign putative function when possible. Bioinformatic analysis showed a large fraction of the tick database entries have no clear matches to genes from other organisms. Several putative tick receptors were identified which might serve as starting points to develop novel control technologies.

Technical Abstract: The southern cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, the horn fly, Haematobia irritans, and the New World screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, are economically important parasites of cattle throughout the world. Understanding the biology and genomics of these pests is critical to developing novel control methods. We developed EST sequence databases for these parasites and used bioinformatic analysis to identify conceptual open reading frames and assigned Gene Ontology (GO) terms to those database trascripts that had informative BlastX hits. Bioinformatic analysis showed a large fraction of the tick database entries have no clear matches in other sequenced genomes. Several putative tick G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) were identified that might serve as starting points to develop novel control technologies.