Authors
Ewen F Kirkness, Brian J Haas, Weilin Sun, Henk R Braig, M Alejandra Perotti, John M Clark, Si Hyeock Lee, Hugh M Robertson, Ryan C Kennedy, Eran Elhaik, Daniel Gerlach, Evgenia V Kriventseva, Christine G Elsik, Dan Graur, Catherine A Hill, Jan A Veenstra, Brian Walenz, José Manuel C Tubío, José MC Ribeiro, Julio Rozas, J Spencer Johnston, Justin T Reese, Aleksandar Popadic, Marta Tojo, Didier Raoult, David L Reed, Yoshinori Tomoyasu, Emily Kraus, Omprakash Mittapalli, Venu M Margam, Hong-Mei Li, Jason M Meyer, Reed M Johnson, Jeanne Romero-Severson, Janice Pagel VanZee, David Alvarez-Ponce, Filipe G Vieira, Montserrat Aguadé, Sara Guirao-Rico, Juan M Anzola, Kyong S Yoon, Joseph P Strycharz, Maria F Unger, Scott Christley, Neil F Lobo, Manfredo J Seufferheld, NaiKuan Wang, Gregory A Dasch, Claudio J Struchiner, Greg Madey, Linda I Hannick, Shelby Bidwell, Vinita Joardar, Elisabet Caler, Renfu Shao, Stephen C Barker, Stephen Cameron, Robert V Bruggner, Allison Regier, Justin Johnson, Lakshmi Viswanathan, Terry R Utterback, Granger G Sutton, Daniel Lawson, Robert M Waterhouse, J Craig Venter, Robert L Strausberg, May R Berenbaum, Frank H Collins, Evgeny M Zdobnov, Barry R Pittendrigh
Publication date
2010/7/6
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
107
Issue
27
Pages
12168-12173
Publisher
National Acad Sciences
Description
As an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. Here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola. The body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 Mb. Despite its status as an obligate parasite, it retains a remarkably complete basal insect repertoire of 10,773 protein-coding genes and 57 microRNAs. Representing hemimetabolous insects, the genome of the body louse thus provides a reference for studies of holometabolous insects. Compared with other insect genomes, the body louse genome contains significantly fewer genes associated with environmental sensing and response, including odorant and gustatory receptors and detoxifying enzymes. The unique architecture of …
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Scholar articles
EF Kirkness, BJ Haas, W Sun, HR Braig, MA Perotti… - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010