Hide, WinstonChristoffels, AlanMpondo, Feziwe2022-11-182024-05-172022-11-182024-05-172009https://hdl.handle.net/10566/15213>Magister Scientiae - MScTsetse 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. aegyptienGlossina morsitansSleeping sicknessInsect immunityComparative genomicsThioester-containing proteinsUniversity of the western cape