The whole genome sequence of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), reveals insights into the biology and adaptive evolution of a highly invasive pest species.

Background: The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a major destructive insect pest due to its broad host range, which includes hundreds of fruits and vegetables. It exhibits a unique ability to invade and adapt to ecological niches throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, though medfly infestations have been prevented and controlled by the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of integrated pest management programs (IPMs). The genetic analysis and manipulation of medfly has been subject to intensive study in an effort to improve SIT efficacy and other aspects of IPM control.

Sniffing out chemosensory genes from the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata.

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (medfly), is an extremely invasive agricultural pest due to its extremely wide host range and its ability to adapt to a broad range of climatic conditions and habitats. Chemosensory behaviour plays an important role in many crucial stages in the life of this insect, such as the detection of pheromone cues during mate pursuit and odorants during host plant localisation. Thus, the analysis of the chemosensory gene repertoire is an important step for the interpretation of the biology of this species and consequently its invasive potential.

Transcriptional profiles of mating-responsive genes from testes and male accessory glands of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata.

Background: Insect seminal fluid is a complex mixture of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, produced in the male reproductive tract. This seminal fluid is transferred together with the spermatozoa during mating and induces post-mating changes in the female. Molecular characterization of seminal fluid proteins in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is limited, although studies suggest that some of these proteins are biologically active.

Transcriptome profiling of sexual maturation and mating in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata.

Sexual maturation and mating in insects are generally accompanied by major physiological and behavioural changes. Many of these changes are related to the need to locate a mate and subsequently, in the case of females, to switch from mate searching to oviposition behaviour. The prodigious reproductive capacity of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is one of the factors that has led to its success as an invasive pest species.

Interchromosomal duplications on the Bactrocera oleae Y chromosome imply a distinct evolutionary origin of the sex chromosomes compared to Drosophila.

Background: Diptera have an extraordinary variety of sex determination mechanisms, and Drosophila melanogaster is the paradigm for this group. However, the Drosophila sex determination pathway is only partially conserved and the family Tephritidae affords an interesting example. The tephritid Y chromosome is postulated to be necessary to determine male development.

Sex and the single embryo: early deveiopment in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata.

Background: In embryos the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MTZ) integrates post-transcriptional regulation of maternal transcripts with transcriptional activation of the zygotic genome. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying this event are being clarified in Drosophila melanogaster, little is know about the embryogenic processes in other insect species. The recent publication of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from embryos of the global pest species Ceratitis capitata (medfly) has enabled the investigation of embryogenesis in this species and has allowed a comparison of the embryogenic processes in these two related dipteran species, C.