title: De novo transcriptome sequencing of Cryptotermes domesticus and comparative analysis of gene expression in response to different wood species.
abstract: The drywood termite Cryptotermes domesticus is an important worldwide pest with limited genomic resources that causes substantial damage to dry timber and structural lumber. Here, we performed transcriptome sequencing for Cr. domesticus pseudergate using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology. A total of 108,745,470 clean reads were collected and assembled into 302,979 contigs with an average length of 648bp and an N50 length of 893bp. A total of 185,248 unigenes and 100,680 proteins were identified among the assembled contigs. Of these, there were 152,317 (50.27%) contigs with significant similarity to publicly available databases. To understand how the termites respond to phylogenetically diverse wood species, variations in gene expression were examined among pseudergates feeding on three wood species from different plant families, Casuarina equisetifolia (CE), Koompassia excelsa (KE) and Myristica sp. (MS). A total of 417 (118 up-regulated/299 down-regulated), 599 (148 up-regulated/451 down-regulated) and 505 (223 up-regulated/282 down-regulated) differentially expressed genes were detected in KE vs. CE, KE vs. MS and CE vs. MS, respectively. Digital gene expression analysis indicated that different wood species played an important role in the expression of termite genes, such as genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, and proteins with catalytic activity and hydrolase activity. Additionally, the genes encoding cellulase were identified and analyzed. This study provides the first primary transcriptome of Cr. domesticus and lays a foundation for future functional genomics studies in the feeding responses.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Entomological Institute, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management in Agriculture, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Entomological Institute, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Entomological Institute, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management in Agriculture, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China. Electronic address: lizq@gdei.gd.cn.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Entomological Institute, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management in Agriculture, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China.
authors.forename: Shijun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Entomological Institute, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; Institute of Entomology and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Xingangxi Road 135, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Entomological Institute, Xingangxi Road 105, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510260, China; College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Hexing Road 26, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, China.
authors.forename: Daifei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002482:Cellulose / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015723:Gene Library; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020049:Isoptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000379:methods*; D014934:Wood / Q000145:classification* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Casuarina equisetifolia; Drywood termite; Feeding response; Koompassia excelsa; Myristica sp.