Department of Biological Sciences and Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21504. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021504. Epub 2011 Jul 6.
Genome sequencing projects have presented the opportunity for analysis of developmental genes in three vector mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles gambiae. A comparative genomic analysis of developmental genes in Drosophila melanogaster and these three important vectors of human disease was performed in this investigation. While the study was comprehensive, special emphasis centered on genes that 1) are components of developmental signaling pathways, 2) regulate fundamental developmental processes, 3) are critical for the development of tissues of vector importance, 4) function in developmental processes known to have diverged within insects, and 5) encode microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate developmental transcripts in Drosophila. While most fruit fly developmental genes are conserved in the three vector mosquito species, several genes known to be critical for Drosophila development were not identified in one or more mosquito genomes. In other cases, mosquito lineage-specific gene gains with respect to D. melanogaster were noted. Sequence analyses also revealed that numerous repetitive sequences are a common structural feature of Drosophila and mosquito developmental genes. Finally, analysis of predicted miRNA binding sites in fruit fly and mosquito developmental genes suggests that the repertoire of developmental genes targeted by miRNAs is species-specific. The results of this study provide insight into the evolution of developmental genes and processes in dipterans and other arthropods, serve as a resource for those pursuing analysis of mosquito development, and will promote the design and refinement of functional analysis experiments.
基因组测序项目为分析埃及伊蚊、致倦库蚊和冈比亚按蚊这三种病媒蚊的发育基因提供了机会。本研究对黑腹果蝇和这三种重要的人类疾病病媒蚊的发育基因进行了比较基因组分析。虽然研究很全面，但特别强调了以下几类基因：1）发育信号通路的组成部分，2）调控基本发育过程，3）对重要组织的发育至关重要，4）在昆虫内部已发生分化的发育过程中发挥作用，5）编码在果蝇中调控发育转录本的 microRNAs（miRNAs）。虽然大多数果蝇发育基因在三种病媒蚊中都有保守，但有几个已知对果蝇发育至关重要的基因在一种或多种蚊子基因组中未被识别。在其他情况下，蚊子谱系特异性基因相对于黑腹果蝇的获得被注意到。序列分析还表明，大量重复序列是果蝇和蚊子发育基因的常见结构特征。最后，对果蝇和蚊子发育基因中预测的 miRNA 结合位点的分析表明，miRNA 靶向的发育基因 repertoire 是具有物种特异性的。这项研究的结果为双翅目和其他节肢动物发育基因和过程的进化提供了深入了解，为那些致力于蚊子发育分析的人提供了资源，并将促进功能分析实验的设计和改进。
