Transcriptome profiling of the Orange Wheat Blossom Midge

The orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana) infests wheat grown in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is one of the most destructive pests of wheat, with outbreaks causing yield losses of 30-40% over large geographic areas. Paired with the genome sequence, this transcript data will allow gene prediction. Knowledge of the genes will dramatically improve our understanding of the biology of these insects, including the development of better control strategies, understanding of population composition and range expansion, determining the mechanism of insecticide resistance, and many other molecular applications. Additionally, as very few midges have an annotated genome sequence, this genome may be used for studies of many related species.