A comparative genomics approach towards classifying immunity-related proteins in the tsetse fly
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Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of the western cape
Abstract
Tsetse flies (Glossina spp) are vectors of African trypanosome (Trypanosoma spp)
parasites, causative agents of Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and
Nagana in livestock. Research suggests that tsetse fly immunity factors are key
determinants in the success and failure of infection and the maturation process of
parasites. An analysis of tsetse fly immunity factors is limited by the paucity of genomic
data for Glossina spp. Nevertheless, completely sequenced and assembled genomes Drosophila melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti provide an opportunity to characterize protein families in species such as G/ossiza by using a comparative
genomics approach. In this study, we characterize thioester-containing proteins (TEPs), a
sub-family of immunity-related proteins, in Glossinaby leveraging the EST data for G.
morsitans and the genomic resources of D. melanogaster, A. gambiae as well as A.
aegypti
Description
>Magister Scientiae - MSc
Keywords
Glossina morsitans, Sleeping sickness, Insect immunity, Comparative genomics, Thioester-containing proteins