Project Information
The Aedes aegypti whole-genome sequencing project is a joint effort between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Microbial Sequencing Centers (MSC) at the Broad Institute and The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR). The goals of this sequencing effort are to produce and publicly release a whole-genome assembly and auto-annotation of the Aedes genome representing 8X sequence coverage. In collaboration, these centers have delivered the target 8X draft coverage of the disease vector genome. Assembly of the genome was performed using the Broad's whole genome assembly package ARACHNE (Batzoglou et al., 2002 and Jaffe et al., 2003). The Aedes genome will be annotated in a collaborative effort involving both MSCs and Vectorbase, which is a bioinformatics resource center at the University of Notre Dame.
David W. Severson of the University of Notre Dame provided the genomic DNA for the sequencing project; the white paper for this organism was submitted by Brendan J. Loftus (TIGR), David W. Severson and Dennis L. Knudson (Colorado State University)
The contigs and scaffolds generated for this assembly are under submission to NCBI under the project accession AAGE02000000.
Data Releases
- 10/2005 - Release of Assembly version 1 generated with sequences provided by the Microbial Sequencing Centers at TIGR and the Broad Insititute.
Questions about the project should be directed to annotation-webmaster(at)broad.mit.edu.
What is Aedes aegypti?
Aedes aegypti is the primary mosquito vector responsible for the transmission of both the yellow fever and dengue fever viruses. It has been used for detailed laboratory investigations of mosquito biology including, morphology, physiology, genetics of vector competence and molecular evolution. With few exceptions, mosquito control remains the only viable strategy for preventing dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Determining the genome sequence of A. aegypti will complement the recently completed genome project for the African malaria disease vector, Anopheles gambiae (Holt et al., 2002). These two species represent the best characterized and most significant members of the two medically-important mosquito subfamilies, Culicinae and Anophelinae. Transmission of arboviruses and lymphatic filariasis is largely associated with the Culicinae, while the Anophelinae contain the primary vectors for malaria transmission. These subfamilies differ significantly taxonomically and in their genomic structure. Comparative analysis will provide important insight into mosquito chromosome evolution and allow the identification of genes and gene function, either common to mosquitoes, or those unique to individual mosquito species, that are specific to host-seeking and blood-feeding behavior, as well as the innate immune response to pathogens encountered during blood-feeding. Such information could facilitate the development of novel dengue disease control strategies aimed at the mosquito vector, and also lead to improvement of existing control strategies, such as insecticides.
References
- Jaffe DB, Butler J, Gnerre S, Mauceli E, Lindblad-Toh K, Mesirov JP, Zody MC, Lander ES. 2003. Whole-genome sequence assembly for mammalian genomes: Arachne 2. Genome Res. Jan;13(1):91-6.
- Batzoglou S, Jaffe DB, Stanley K, Butler J, Gnerre S, Mauceli E, Berger B, Mesirov JP, Lander ES. 2002. ARACHNE: a whole-genome shotgun assembler. Genome Res. 2002 Jan;12(1):177-89.
- Holt et al., 2002, The genome sequence of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Science. Oct 4;298(5591):129-49.
Photo Captions and Credits
The images on the home page are, from left to right:
- This 2006 photograph depicts a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control.
Content Provider: CDC/ Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame; Photo:James Gathany. - This is an individual egg of an Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Photo: CDC - Closeup of Aedes aegypti mosquito pupae, side view. Photo: CDC
- Closeup of Aedes aegypti mosquito fourth stage larvae, side view. Photo: CDC.
- The Aedes aegypti feeding apparatus consisted of a sharp, orange-colored "fascicle" that was covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the "labellum" while not feeding. The labellum was shown here retracted as the sharp "stylets" contained within pierced the host's skin surface, thereby, allowing the insect to obtain its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle was due to the red color of the blood as it migrated up the thin, sharp translucent tube. Note the distended abdominal exoskeleton, which being translucent, allowed the color of the ingested blood meal to be visible. Content Provider: CDC/ Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame; Photo: James Gathany.
