The genome of the bed bug has been read
Polit.<url> based on the materials of Entomology Today: Bed Bug Genome Map May Provide Clues for Controlling ThemThe journal Nature published the work of an international team of scientists (Benoit et al., Unique features of a global human ectoparasite identified through sequencing of the bed bug genome), representing 36 scientific institutions, dedicated to reading the genome of the bed bug (Cimex lectularius).The researchers extracted DNA and RNA samples from live bedbugs, as well as from specimens stored in entomological collections. The oldest used samples dated back to 1973. RNA was collected from both males and females, taking into account also all stages of insect development (adult bugs, eggs and larvae of different ages) and the condition before and after feeding with blood. Such measures helped to determine by RNA which genes are expressed in the bug at various points in life.
The changes in gene expression turned out to be quite significant. For example, genes have been found that work only after the bug drinks blood for the first time. Some of them are related to the resistance of the bug to insecticides and the ability to detoxify. Scientists have concluded that bedbugs are probably most vulnerable at the larval stage of the first instar, when they are just starting to feed. This can be used in the development of bedbug control measures.
It is noteworthy that as many as 805 probable cases of so-called horizontal gene transfer were found, when genes belonging to bacteria originally appeared in the chromosomes of the bug. Of these genes, the bug received 459 from Arsenophonus bacteria, and 87 more from Wolbachia bacteria. Both of these genera often live in the body of the bed bug.
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08.02.2015