The Insect BAC Library Initiative: A Fundamental Resource for the Study of Evolution and Development

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

0208278 Romero-Severson Dr. Romero-Severson and colleagues propose the construction of BAC libraries for five insect taxa (Tribolium castaneum, Nassonia vitripennis, Oncopeltus fasciatus, Thermobia domestica and Schistocerca Americana) selected for their phylogenetic position, scientific importance and scarcity of existing genomic resources. These taxa represent the insect orders Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (wasps and bees), Hemiptera (true bugs), Thysanura (silverfish) and Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets). In combination with the whole genome sequences of the Dipteran insects Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae, these libraries will enable the scientific community to test important hypotheses concerning insect genetics, genomics, development, ecology, systematics, and evolution. This effort will dovetail with the ongoing development of an insect genomics database at Purdue University. The Clemson University Genomics Institute (CUGI) is the subcontractor for the BAC library construction. Over the past five years, the CUGI BAC/EST Resource Center has constructed most of the plant and fungal BAC libraries used in agricultural genomics. The CUGI BAC/EST Resource Center will supply the insect libraries as high-density hybridization filters and clones on a cost recovery basis for academic programs.