Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 11-Beta-hydroxylase deficiency in a Tunisian family

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia refers to a group of rare genetic disorders affecting the adrenal glands. 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most prevalent and the most studied cause while the remaining enzymatic defects are less common, accounting for less than 10% of cases. We herein described the clinical, biological and molecular characteristics and outcome of patients of the same family diagnosed with 11-Beta-hydroxylase deficiency. The disorder was revealed by peripheral precocious puberty between the age of 2-3 years in males and by the virilization of the external genitalia in females. Genetics finding a homozygous p.Gly379Val mutation in the CYP11B1 gene. All patients received hydrocortisone supplementation therapy and mineralocorticoid-receptor antagonist. The females underwent a surgical correction of the ambiguous genitalia at the neonatal age. Long term follow-up revealed metabolic syndrome, obesity and hypertension in the first two patients, an impaired final height in the two females and hypokalemia in three patients

Genome-wide analyses of the Bemisia tabaci species complex reveal contrasting patterns of admixture and complex demographic histories.

Once considered a single species, the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is a complex of numerous morphologically indistinguishable species. Within the last three decades, two of its members (MED and MEAM1) have become some of the world's most damaging agricultural pests invading countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and affecting a vast range of agriculturally important food and fiber crops through both feeding-related damage and the transmission of numerous plant viruses. For some time now, researchers have relied on a single mitochondrial gene and/or a handful of nuclear markers to study this species complex. Here, we move beyond this by using 38,041 genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, and show that the two invasive members of the complex are closely related species with signatures of introgression with a third species (IO). Gene flow patterns were traced between contemporary invasive populations within MED and MEAM1 species and these were best explained by recent international trade. These findings have profound implications for delineating the B. tabaci species status and will impact quarantine measures and future management strategies of this global pest

Virtual water balance estimation in an irrigated area in North-eastern Tunisia

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Adaptive Introgression across Semipermeable Species Boundaries between Local Helicoverpa zea and Invasive Helicoverpa armigera Moths.

Hybridization between invasive and native species has raised global concern, given the dramatic increase in species range shifts and pest outbreaks due to anthropogenic dispersal. Nevertheless, secondary contact between sister lineages of local and invasive species provides a natural laboratory to understand the factors that determine introgression and the maintenance or loss of species barriers. Here, we characterize the early evolutionary outcomes following secondary contact between invasive Helicoverpa armigera and native H. zea in Brazil. We carried out whole-genome resequencing of Helicoverpa moths from Brazil in two temporal samples: during the outbreak of H. armigera in 2013 and 2017. There is evidence for a burst of hybridization and widespread introgression from local H. zea into invasive H. armigera coinciding with H. armigera expansion in 2013. However, in H. armigera, the admixture proportion and the length of introgressed blocks were significantly reduced between 2013 and 2017, suggesting selection against admixture. In contrast to the genome-wide pattern, there was striking evidence for adaptive introgression of a single region from the invasive H. armigera into local H. zea, including an insecticide resistance allele that increased in frequency over time. In summary, despite extensive gene flow after secondary contact, the species boundaries are largely maintained except for the single introgressed region containing the insecticide-resistant locus. We document the worst-case scenario for an invasive species, in which there are now two pest species instead of one, and the native species has acquired resistance to pyrethroid insecticides through introgression

Erratum to: Genomic innovations, transcriptional plasticity and gene loss underlying the evolution and divergence of two highly polyphagous and invasive Helicoverpa pest species

Upon publication of the original article [1], it was noticed that Dr Papanicolaou’s surname was spelt incorrectly. The correct spelling is “Papanicolaou”, as shown in the author list of this erratum.Additional co-authors: A. Anderson, S. Asgari, P. G. Board, A. Bretschneider, P. M. Campbell, T. Chertemps, J. T. Christeller, C. W. Coppin, S. J. Downes, G. Duan, C. A. Farnsworth, R. T. Good, L. B. Han, Y. C. Han, K. Hatje, I. Horne, Y. P. Huang, D. S. T. Hughes, E. Jacquin-Joly, W. James, S. Jhangiani, M. Kollmar, S. S. Kuwar, S. Li, N-Y. Liu, M. T. Maibeche, J. R. Miller, N. Montagne, T. Perry, J. Qu, S. V. Song, G. G. Sutton, H. Vogel, B. P. Walenz, W. Xu, H-J. Zhang, Z. Zou, P. Batterham, O. R. Edwards, R. Feyereisen, R. A. Gibbs, D. G. Heckel, A. McGrath, C. Robin, S. E. Scherer, K. C. Worley, Y. D. W

On species delimitation, hybridization and population structure of cassava whitefly in Africa.

The Bemisia cassava whitefly complex includes species that cause severe crop damage through vectoring cassava viruses in eastern Africa. Currently, this whitefly complex is divided into species and subgroups (SG) based on very limited molecular markers that do not allow clear definition of species and population structure. Based on 14,358 genome-wide SNPs from 62 Bemisia cassava whitefly individuals belonging to sub-Saharan African species (SSA1, SSA2 and SSA4), and using a well-curated mtCOI gene database, we show clear incongruities in previous taxonomic approaches underpinned by effects from pseudogenes. We show that the SSA4 species is nested within SSA2, and that populations of the SSA1 species comprise well-defined south-eastern (Madagascar, Tanzania) and north-western (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi) putative sub-species. Signatures of allopatric incipient speciation, and the presence of a 'hybrid zone' separating the two putative sub-species were also detected. These findings provide insights into the evolution and molecular ecology of a highly cryptic hemipteran insect complex in African, and allow the systematic use of genomic data to be incorporated in the development of management strategies for this cassava pest

Genomic innovations, transcriptional plasticity and gene loss underlying the evolution and divergence of two highly polyphagous and invasive Helicoverpa pest species

BACKGROUND: Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa zea are major caterpillar pests of Old and New World agriculture, respectively. Both, particularly H. armigera, are extremely polyphagous, and H. armigera has developed resistance to many insecticides. Here we use comparative genomics, transcriptomics and resequencing to elucidate the genetic basis for their properties as pests. RESULTS: We find that, prior to their divergence about 1.5 Mya, the H. armigera/H. zea lineage had accumulated up to more than 100 more members of specific detoxification and digestion gene families and more than 100 extra gustatory receptor genes, compared to other lepidopterans with narrower host ranges. The two genomes remain very similar in gene content and order, but H. armigera is more polymorphic overall, and H. zea has lost several detoxification genes, as well as about 50 gustatory receptor genes. It also lacks certain genes and alleles conferring insecticide resistance found in H. armigera. Non-synonymous sites in the expanded gene families above are rapidly diverging, both between paralogues and between orthologues in the two species. Whole genome transcriptomic analyses of H. armigera larvae show widely divergent responses to different host plants, including responses among many of the duplicated detoxification and digestion genes. CONCLUSIONS: The extreme polyphagy of the two heliothines is associated with extensive amplification and neofunctionalisation of genes involved in host finding and use, coupled with versatile transcriptional responses on different hosts. H. armigera's invasion of the Americas in recent years means that hybridisation could generate populations that are both locally adapted and insecticide resistant

Genomic innovations, transcriptional plasticity and gene loss underlying the evolution and divergence of two highly polyphagous and invasive <i>Helicoverpa</i> pest species

BACKGROUND: Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa zea are major caterpillar pests of Old and New World agriculture, respectively. Both, particularly H. armigera, are extremely polyphagous, and H. armigera has developed resistance to many insecticides. Here we use comparative genomics, transcriptomics and resequencing to elucidate the genetic basis for their properties as pests. RESULTS: We find that, prior to their divergence about 1.5 Mya, the H. armigera/H. zea lineage had accumulated up to more than 100 more members of specific detoxification and digestion gene families and more than 100 extra gustatory receptor genes, compared to other lepidopterans with narrower host ranges. The two genomes remain very similar in gene content and order, but H. armigera is more polymorphic overall, and H. zea has lost several detoxification genes, as well as about 50 gustatory receptor genes. It also lacks certain genes and alleles conferring insecticide resistance found in H. armigera. Non-synonymous sites in the expanded gene families above are rapidly diverging, both between paralogues and between orthologues in the two species. Whole genome transcriptomic analyses of H. armigera larvae show widely divergent responses to different host plants, including responses among many of the duplicated detoxification and digestion genes. CONCLUSIONS: The extreme polyphagy of the two heliothines is associated with extensive amplification and neofunctionalisation of genes involved in host finding and use, coupled with versatile transcriptional responses on different hosts. H. armigera's invasion of the Americas in recent years means that hybridisation could generate populations that are both locally adapted and insecticide resistant