Project description:Characterization of Chemosensory Genes in the Subterranean Pest Gryllotalpa orientalis Based on Genome Assembly and Transcriptome Comparison
Project description:BackgroundThe Natural History Museum (NHM) sound archive contains recordings of Gryllotalpidae, and the NHM collection holds plaster casts of the burrows of two species. These recordings and burrows have until now not been made available through the NHM's collection database, making it hard for researchers to make use of these resources.New informationEighteen recordings of mole crickets (three identified species) held by the NHM have been made available under open licenses via BioAcoustica. 3D scans of the burrows of Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa (Linnaeus, 1758) and Gryllotalpa vineae Bennet-Clark, 1970 have been made available via the NHM Data Portal.
Project description:The European mole cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, feeds on a wide range of crops and can also damage plants with its burrowing activities. In suitable habitats (like those with damp, rich soils in flood plains), G. gryllotalpa numbers can increase to high levels. On the other hand, the abundance of G. gryllotalpa has dramatically decreased in north-western Europe partly due to direct eradication and excessive pest control. Using habitat suitability modelling, we identified areas suitable for G. gryllotalpa occurrence based on previous reports of its occurrence and based on environmental data. We limited our study area to regions where G. gryllotalpa is the only known Gryllotalpa species. The most important variables in our models were found to be relative air humidity and minimum soil temperature of the coldest month. We suggest that soil temperature is a limiting factor for European mole cricket occurrence in the Czech Republic because most areas in the country experience soil temperatures just below 0 °C, while most reports of G. gryllotalpa occurrence in Europe are from areas where the soil temperature does not drop below 0 °C. The models we have developed can provide information on possible occurrences of the mole cricket and thus improve the decision-making process both in the field of pest control and the conservation of this species.
Project description:The mole cricket Gryllotalpa orientalis is an evolutionarily, medicinal, and agriculturally significant insect that inhabits underground environments and is distributed globally. This study measured genome size by flow cytometry and k-mer based on low-coverage sequencing, and nuclear repetitive elements were also identified. The haploid genome size estimate is 3.14 Gb by flow cytometry, 3.17 Gb, and 3.77 Gb-based two k-mer methods, respectively, which is well within the range previously reported for other species of the suborder Ensifera. 56% of repetitive elements were found in G. orientalis, similar to 56.83% in Locusta migratoria. However, the great size of repetitive sequences could not be annotated to specific repeat element families. For the repetitive elements that were annotated, Class I-LINE retrotransposon elements were the most common families and more abundant than satellite and Class I-LTR. These results based on the newly developed genome survey could be used in the taxonomic study and whole genome sequencing to improve the understanding of the biology of G. orientalis.
Project description:An insect's gut microbiome is an essential "organ" in their life cycle, playing a crucial role by aiding food digestion and nutrient absorption. This study employed both culture-independent and culture-dependent methods to explore the protease resources present in the gut of the omnivorous insect Gryllotalpa orientalis. The findings revealed that the gut extract of G. orientalis contained a diverse array of proteases, including cysteine proteases, pepsin, serine proteases, and trypsin, as well as some unidentified proteases. Furthermore, the protease gene htpX, derived from gut bacterium Priestia megaterium DX-3, has been cloned and recombinantly expressed. The recombinant DX-3-htpX protease exhibited a 61.9-fold increase in fermentation level compared to the DX-3 protease. This protease was characterized as a neutral, heat-resistant metalloprotease with an M48 peptidase domain, and it was observed that the binding of Ca2+ to the recombinant protease resulted in the formation of the largest active pocket. This study provides technical support for further development and utilization of functional protein resources in insect gut.