Gene discovery in Triatoma infestans

Background: Triatoma infestans is the most relevant vector of Chagas disease in the southern cone of South America. Since its genome has not yet been studied, sequencing of Expressed Sequence Tags ( ESTs) is one of the most powerful tools for efficiently identifying large numbers of expressed genes in this insect vector. Results: In this work, we generated 826 ESTs, resulting in an increase of 47% in the number of ESTs available for T. infestans. These ESTs were assembled in 471 unique sequences, 151 of which represent 136 new genes for the Reduviidae family. Conclusions: Among the putative new genes for the Reduviidae family, we identified and described an interesting subset of genes involved in development and reproduction, which constitute potential targets for insecticide development