Evolution of global gene expression in the family Calliphoridae

Abstract

Closely related species of the family Calliphoridae exhibit different feeding behaviors such as feeding in living tissues of a host (obligate parasitism) and feeding in decaying organic matter (saprophagous species). It is unclear how parasitism arose in Calliphoridae, however, it is possible to observe in their evolutionary history that this habit appears in three separate occasions. One approach to initiate this study is to map specific patterns in the parasite species by collecting global expression data. To achieve this goal, there are several techniques available, but due to certain limitations such as the requirement of previous sequence knowledge of the organism studied, a large scale technique (RNA-seq) was chosen to compare expression profiles in Calliphoridae species. The collected data will be used to search for genes possibly involved in feeding habit. The expression modulation of the selected genes will be studied in detail by feeding assays in gravid females and larvae in different stages. In addition to further the study of the biology and evolution of parasitism in the Calliphoridae family, the obtained data will be essential for other projects involving Calliphoridae species or other species of Diptera and/or insects. (AU)