Differential expression of endogenous plant cell wall degrading enzyme genes in the stick insect (Phasmatodea) midgut.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) are an exclusively leaf-feeding order of insects with no record of omnivory, unlike other "herbivorous" Polyneoptera. They represent an ideal system for investigating the adaptations necessary for obligate folivory, including plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs). However, their physiology and internal anatomy is poorly understood, with limited genomic resources available.

Results

We de novo assembled transcriptomes for the anterior and posterior midguts of six diverse Phasmatodea species, with RNA-Seq on one exemplar species, Peruphasma schultei. The latter's assembly yielded >100,000 transcripts, with over 4000 transcripts uniquely or more highly expressed in specific midgut sections. Two to three dozen PCWDE encoding ge

SUBMITTER: Shelomi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4221708 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature