Expression patterns of cysteine peptidase genes across the Tribolium castaneum life cycle provide clues to biological function.

ABSTRACT: The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, is a major agricultural pest responsible for considerable loss of stored grain and cereal products worldwide. T. castaneum larvae have a highly compartmentalized gut, with cysteine peptidases mostly in the acidic anterior part of the midgut that are critical to the early stages of food digestion. In previous studies, we described 26 putative cysteine peptidase genes in T. castaneum (types B, L, O, F, and K) located mostly on chromosomes 3, 7, 8, and 10. In the present study, we hypothesized that specific cysteine peptidase genes could be associated with digestive functions for food processing based on comparison of gene expression profiles in different developmental stages, feeding and non-feeding. RNA-Seq was used to determine the relative expres

SUBMITTER: Perkin L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4727968 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature