ArticleBMC biology2020
A chromosome-level assembly of the cat flea genome uncovers rampant gene duplication and genome size plasticity.
Article in BMC biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evolutionary dynamics of the arthropod molting machinery.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Review
- Evolutionary trajectories, early diversification, and species-specific amplification of the metazoan inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) repertoire.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Gene and Genome Duplication in Spiders.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2025Review
- An insight into the draft genome of the Oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, together with its Wolbachia endosymbiont.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Genomic Insights into Basal Diptera Phylogeny: The Non-Monophyletic Nature of Blephariceromorpha.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Morphological and molecular identification of the cat fleaJournal of advanced veterinary and animal research · 2025Article
- The conserved IR75 subfamily mediates carboxylic acid detection in insects of public health and agricultural importance.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2025Review
- The complete mitochondrial genomes ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- The first mitogenome of the subfamily Stenoponiinae (Siphonaptera: Ctenophthalmidae) and implications for its phylogenetic position.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Arthropod promoters for genetic control of disease vectors.Trends in parasitology · 2024Review
- Immune Reactions of Vector Insects to Parasites and Pathogens.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Acid phosphatase-like proteins, a biogenic amine and leukotriene-binding salivary protein family from the flea Xenopsylla cheopis.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Sleep: An Essential and Understudied Process in the Biology of Blood-Feeding Arthropods.Integrative and comparative biology · 2023Review
- Extensive Copy Number Variation Explains Genome Size Variation in the Unicellular Zygnematophycean Alga, Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale Complex.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- Metagenomics of culture isolates and insect tissue illuminate the evolution ofMicrobial genomics · 2023Article
- Article
- High-quality, chromosome-scale genome assemblies: comparisons of three Diaphorina citri (Asian citrus psyllid) geographic populations.DNA research : an international journal for rapid publication of reports on genes and genomes · 2022Article
- Integrated analysis of the sialotranscriptome and sialoproteome of the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis.Journal of proteomics · 2022Article
- Phylogenetic analysis of forkhead transcription factors in the Panarthropoda.Development genes and evolution · 2022Article
- The first chromosome-level genome assembly of a green lacewing Chrysopa pallens and its implication for biological control.Molecular ecology resources · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) are small flightless parasites of birds and mammals; their blood-feeding can transmit many serious pathogens (i.e., the etiological agents of bubonic plague, endemic and murine typhus). The lack of flea genome assemblies has hindered research, especially comparisons to other disease vectors. Accordingly, we sequenced the genome of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, an insect with substantial human health and veterinary importance across the globe.
resultsBy combining Illumina and PacBio sequencing of DNA derived from multiple inbred female fleas with Hi-C scaffolding techniques, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly for C. felis. Unexpectedly, our assembly revealed extensive gene duplication across the entire genome, exemplified by ~ 38% of protein-coding genes with two or more copies and over 4000 tRNA genes. A broad range of genome size determinations (433-551 Mb) for individual fleas sampled across different populations supports the widespread presence of fluctuating copy number variation (CNV) in C. felis. Similarly, broad genome sizes were also calculated for individuals of Xenopsylla cheopis (Oriental rat flea), indicating that this remarkable "genome-in-flux" phenomenon could be a siphonapteran-wide trait. Finally, from the C. felis sequence reads, we also generated closed genomes for two novel strains of Wolbachia, one parasitic and one symbiotic, found to co-infect individual fleas.
conclusionRampant CNV in C. felis has dire implications for gene-targeting pest control measures and stands to complicate standard normalization procedures utilized in comparative transcriptomics analysis. Coupled with co-infection by novel Wolbachia endosymbionts-potential tools for blocking pathogen transmission-these oddities highlight a unique and underappreciated disease vector.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.