LcoustDB

General information

This database contains original sequence data, including homologous/orthologous sequences, functional annotations, pathway analysis, and codon usage, based on conserved orthologous groups (COG), gene ontology (GO), protein domain (InterPro), and functional pathways (KEGG). It also provides information from comparative analysis based on data from the migratory locust and five other invertebrate species, such as the silkworm, the honeybee, the fruitfly, the mosquito and the nematode.

Insect culture

Locusts were collected from a gregarious population in Huanghua, Hebei Province, China. The gregarious and solitary cultures were harvested and started with fifth-instar hoppers derived from second and third generations of gregarious and solitary stocks, respectively. The gregarious locusts were reared in large, well ventilated plastic bins (56 cm _ 76 cm _ 60cm) at densities of 500-1,000 insects per container until the hoppers grew to the fifth-instar stage. The solitary culture consisted of individual insects that originated from the solitary stocks and were reared in isolation to the fifth-instar stage; individual eggs that were separated from the pod several days before hatching were used to start the culture. Newly emerged hoppers were placed in small containers (8 cm _ 4.5 cm _ 2 cm).

Construction of cDNA Library

EST sequences were generated from six non-normalized, uni-directionally cloned cDNA libraries that were constructed by using mRNAs from heads, hind legs, and midguts of fifth-instar locusts in two phenotypic phases: solitary and gregarious. We also constructed a cDNA library by using mRNAs from the whole-body of the gregarious locust.

Sequences

Clones from these libraries were sequenced from the 5'-ends. The software package, Phred-Phrap-Consed, was used for base-calling, quality assessment, and sequence assembly. Poly (A) tails, low quality data, and vector sequences were screened by CROSS_ MATCH, and removed from the dataset. Sequences less than 100 bp in length were also discarded. Mitochondrial RNAs, nuclear rRNAs, and E. coli contaminations were eliminated from the final assemblies.

` Workflow