Gene expression in reproductive organs of tsetse females

Tsetse flies are vectors of African trypanosomes, and their vectorial capacity results in a major public health emergency and vast economic losses in sub-Saharan Africa. Given the limited ability of trypanosome prevention and eradication, tsetse vectors remain major targets of control efforts. The past few years have witnessed the emergence of approaches based on knockdown of genes involved in milk production, resulting in a significant reduction of fecundity.In order to identify further genes applicable in the control of tsetse flies, we determined the expression of protein-coding genes in ovaries and uteri from both virgin and heavily pregnant Glossina morsitans morsitans females. Comparison of expression profiles allowed us to identify candidate genes with increased expression in pregnant individuals. This data needs to be considered initial, as a single replicate was employed in each condition, and the virgins were not age-matched to their pregnant counterparts (5-day old virgins vs. roughly 20-day old primiparas).