Transcriptome analysis of the almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): Identification of genes involved in reproduction

Abstract: The transcriptome sequencing of the almond moth, Cadra cautella female abdominal tissues was performed using Illumina Hiseq 2000 next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform. From transcriptome data, 9804.8 million nucleotides were generated; their assemblage resulted in 62687 unigenes with an average length of 881 nucleotides. While the functional annotation analysis has provided 25880, 15432, 17738, 16106, 8828, 9494 unigenes by using the non-redundant protein (NR), non-redundant nucleotide (NT), Swiss-Prot, Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG), clusters of orthologous groups of protein (COG), and gene ontology (GO) databases, respectively. The total annotated unigenes obtained from our study were 27836. The identification of the reproduction control genes especially vitellogenin (Vg), lipophorin (Lp), juvenile hormones (JHs), doublesex (dsx),and transmembrane protein (TP) and their receptors genes will help to elucidate the reproduction strategies in this crucial warehouse pest. The NGS-based sequence pool will be a valuable resource to be exploited to control/manage the C. cautella, a serious pest of dates worldwide.