10-Minute Paper
Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity
Paul Vincent Hickner
Research Ecologist
USDA
Kerville, Texas
Blow flies (Calliphoridae) play important and diverse roles in our ecosystem such as decomposers, mechanical vectors, pollinators, and parasites. Though many blow fly species feed on the tissues of decomposing animals, a shift from detritivore to parasite has evolved multiple times in the Calliphoridae. Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screwworm fly, is an obligate parasite that infests warm-blooded animals and causes substantial losses to livestock industries in endemic regions of the Americas. To investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying this evolutionary shift, we sequenced the genome of Cochliomyia macellaria, a detritivore, using the trio-binning approach, and conducted comparative analysis with the genome of C. hominivorax. Synteny analysis was conducted to identify any large inversions and/or translocations. We also investigated copy number variation among select gene families. Finally, we conducted phylogenetic analysis to include Cochliomyia minima and Cochliomyia aldrichi. This study provides novel insights into the evolution of parasitism in the Calliphoridae.