Pedro Lorite

Universidad de Jaén | UJAEN · Department of Experimental Biology

This study focused on analyzing the distribution of microsatellites in holocentric chromosomes of the Triatominae subfamily, insect vectors of Chagas disease. We employed a non-denaturing FISH technique to determine the chromosomal distribution of sixteen microsatellites across twenty-five triatomine species, involving five genera from the two prin...

Satellite DNAs (satDNAs) are highly repeated tandem sequences primarily located in het-erochromatin, although their occurrence in euchromatin has been reported. Here, our aim was to advance the understanding of satDNA and multiple sex chromosome evolution in heteropterans. We combined cytogenetic and genomic approaches to study, for the first time,...

Social parasites usually rely on chemical cues (cuticular hydrocarbons) to successfully invade and coexist with their hosts. Most ants that are obligate social parasites (slave-makers) can parasitize several related host species with different levels of chemical similarity although there are few exceptions where there is only a single host species....

The genome of Triatoma delpontei Romaña & Abalos 1947 is the largest within Heteroptera, approximately two to three times greater than other evaluated Heteroptera genomes. Here, the repetitive fraction of the genome was determined and compared with its sister species Triatoma infestans Klug 1834, in order to shed light on the karyotypic and genomic...

The W chromosome of Lepidoptera is typically gene-poor, repeat-rich and composed of heterochromatin. Pioneering studies investigating this chromosome reported an abundance of mobile elements. However, the actual composition of the W chromosome varies greatly between species, as repeatedly demonstrated by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) or f...

The complete mitogenome of Triatoma boliviana Martínez, Chávez, Sossa, Aranda, Vargas and Vidaurre, 2007 was assembled using next generation sequencing data. The 16,719 bp long genome contains 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, two ribosomal RNAs, and a control region. This mitogenome showed similar nucleotide composition, gene order and or...

The evolution and molecular differentiation of heteromorphic sex chromosomes involves the accumulation of different repetitive DNA sequences due to restricted recombination. This also applies to moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), which mostly have the WZ sex chromosome system. The female-specific W chromosome is typically rich in heterochromatin,...

The ant Tapinoma ibericum Santschi, 1925 is native to the Iberian Peninsula. This species, as well as other species from the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex, could form supercolonies that make these species potentially invasive and could give rise to pests. Recently a mature colony from this species has been found in the Isle of Wight (United Kingdom)....

Cataglyphis are thermophilic ants that forage during the day when temperatures are highest and sometimes close to their critical thermal limit. Several Cataglyphis species have evolved unusual reproductive systems such as facultative queen parthenogenesis or social hybridogenesis, which have not yet been investigated in detail at the molecular leve...

In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome or mitogenome of the blister beetle Hycleus scutellatus, one endemic species from the Iberian Peninsula. The mitogenome was 16,035 base pairs in length, with an A þ T content of 71.7%. It has 37 genes including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. To ana...

The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is the most harmful species among those pests affecting palm trees. Its impact causes important economic losses around the World. Nevertheless, the genetic information of Rh. ferrugineus is very scarce. Last year, the first genome assembly was published including a rough description of its repeatome....

The subfamily Triatominae (Hemiptera‐Reduviidae) includes more than 150 blood‐sucking species, potential vectors of the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, causative agent of Chagas disease. A distinctive cytogenetic characteristic of this group is the presence of extremely stable chromosome numbers. Unexpectedly, the analyses of the chromosomal location...

A bstract Cataglyphis are thermophilic ants that forage during the day when temperatures are highest and sometimes close to their critical thermal limit. Several Cataglyphis species have evolved unusual reproductive systems such as facultative queen parthenogenesis or social hybridogenesis, which have not yet been investigated in detail at the mole...

Aphids (Hemiptera, Aphididae) are small phytophagous insects. The aim of this study was to determine if the mariner elements found in the ant genomes are also present in Aphis fabae and Aphis hederae genomes and the possible existence of horizontal transfer events. Aphids maintain a relationship of mutualism with the ants. The close contact between...

Background: Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus (Hemiptera-Reduviidae) is a triatomine species with a wide geographic distribution and a broad phenotypic variability. In some countries, this species is found infesting and colonising domiciliary ecotopes representing an epidemiological risk factor as a vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiological agent of C...

The subfamily Triatominae, vectors of Chagas disease, represents one of the most cytogenetically studied subfamilies within the true bugs. To date, the chromosome numbers of more than 100 out of the 150 recognized species of the subfamily are known, resulting in an extremely stable group in terms of the number of autosomes (18, 20, and 22) and sex...

Background We have focused on the alteration of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in celiac disease and discussed the roles of the PD1 pathway in regulating the immune response. We explored the idea that the altered mRNA splicing process in key regulatory proteins could represent a novel source to identify diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic targets in ce...

The triatomine Rhodnius prolixus is the main vector of Chagas disease in countries such as Colombia and Venezuela, and the first kissing bug whose genome has been sequenced and assembled. In the repetitive genome fraction (repeatome) of this species, the transposable elements represented 19% of R. prolixus genome, being mostly DNA transposon (Class...

Meloidae are commonly known as blister beetles, so called for the secretion of cantharidin, a toxic substance that causes irritation and blistering. There has been a recent increase in the interest of the cantharidin anticancer potential of this insect group. Cytogenetic and molecular data in this group are scarce. In this study, we performed a kar...

Specific identification of oestrid larvae is usually problematic not only when using morphobiometric features, but also when applying molecular criteria, since very few molecular markers have been described for this group of flies. New molecular markers for oestrid are needed for more reliable species identification, diagnostic purposes, and epidem...

The 65 species of the genus Microtus have unusual sex-related genetic features and a high rate of karyotype variation. However, only nine complete mitogenomes for these species are currently available. We describe the complete mitogenome sequences of three Microtus, which vary in length from 16,295 bp to 16,331 bp, contain 13 protein-coding genes (...

Hippodamia variegata is one of the most commercialized ladybirds used for the biological control of aphid pest species in many economically important crops. This species is the first Coccinellidae whose satellitome has been studied by applying new sequencing technologies and bioinformatics tools. We found that 47% of the H. variegata genome is comp...

Mboumar-9 is an active mariner-transposable element previously isolated in the ant Messor bouvieri. In this work, a mariner-like element, Mboumar, isolated from 22 species of ants, is analyzed. These species belong to nine different subfamilies, including Leptanillinae, the most primitive ant subfamily, and Myrmicinae and Formicidae, the most deriv...

The complete mitogenome sequence of Talpa aquitania, a recently described Talpa species, was assembled using whole-genome sequencing data. It varies in length from 16,776 to 16,846 bp, contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, one origin of L-strand replication, and a control region. In the control region, wh...

Ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) are one of the largest groups of beetles. Among them, some species are of economic interest since they can act as a biological control for some agricultural pests whereas other species are phytophagous and can damage crops. Chnootriba argus (Coccinellidae, Epilachnini) has large heterochromatic pericentromeric block...

A list of morphological characters to separate Iberoformica and Formica (Serviformica) (F. fusca species group) is provided. Sexual forms of Formica gerardi Bondroit are described based on Iberian material and reinstated into the subgenus Serviformica based on genetic data and morphological characters. The status of †F. horrida Wheeler, 1915 is ass...

The complete mitogenome of Talpa occidentalis, the Iberian mole, was sequenced using a combination of the Illumina and Sanger methods. The 16,962 bp genome obtained contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, 2 ribosomal RNAs, and a control region. Thirty-seven identical repetitions of a 10-nucleotide (CACACGTACG) repeat element were identi...

Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition triggered by the ingestion of gluten, the protein fraction of wheat, barley and rye. It is not simply an intestinal disease; it is multifactorial caused by many different genetic factors acting together with non-genetic causes. Similar to other autoimmune diseases, celiac disease is a polygenic disorder for...

Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis affects six to seven million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America. This disease is transmitted by hematophagous insects known as “kissing bugs” (Hemiptera, Triatominae), with Triatoma infestans and Rhodnius prolixus being the two most important vector species. Despite the fact that both species presen...

Satellite DNAs are the major repetitive DNA components in eukaryotic genomes. Although satellite DNA has long been called “parasite DNA” there is substantial evidence that it could be associated with some functions of chromosome biology. Ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) are one of the largest and most important groups of beetles. Many ladybirds are...

Background: The analysis of the chromosomal and genome evolution in organisms with holocentric chromosomes is restricted by the lack of primary constriction or centromere. An interesting group is the hemipteran subfamily Triatominae, vectors of Chagas disease, which affects around 6 to 7 million people worldwide. This group exhibits extensive varia...

Triatoma infestans is the most important Chagas disease vector in South America. Two main evolutionary lineages, named Andean and non-Andean, have been recognized by geographical distribution, phenetic and genetic characteristics. One of the main differences is the genomic size, varying over 30% in their haploid DNA content. Here we realize a genom...

A family of satellite DNA is analyzed in seven ant species from the genus Aphaenogaster. This satellite DNA is organized as tandemly repeated sequences with a consensus sequence of 160 bp in length. The sampled sequences show a high similarity and belong to the same family of satellite DNA. However in Aphaenogaster spinosa, two types of repeat clea...

The IL-33/ST2 axis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several tissue-specific autoimmune diseases. Celiac disease (CD) is the only autoimmune disease in which both the major genetic factors (HLA-DQ2/DQ8) and etiologic ones (dietary gluten) for susceptibility are known. We have measured serum levels and determined intestinal tissue expressio...

The West and Central Mediterranean ants known for 50 years under the name Tapinoma nigerrimum (Nylander, 1856) have attracted attention because of their efficient chemical weapons, impressive supercolonies and potential to limit the spreading of the Argentine Ant Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868). The paper shows that the T. nigerrimum complex consis...

In order to provide a broad picture on the origin and evolution of holocentric X chromosomes in heteropteran species, we prepared a sex chromosome painting probe by microdissection of the X1 and X2 chromosomes from a kissing bug Mepraia spinolai (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae). Fluorescence in situ hybridization on four species of the Triatomi...

Next-generation sequencing data analysis on Triatoma infestans Klug, 1834 (Heteroptera, Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae) revealed the presence of the ancestral insect (TTAGG)n telomeric motif in its genome. Fluorescence in situ hybridization confirms that chromosomes bear this telomeric sequence in their chromosomal ends. Furthermore, motif amount estimat...

Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune condition triggered by the ingestion of gluten, the protein fraction of wheat, barley, and rye. There is a strong linkage between celiac disease and HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 haplotypes. As in other autoimmune diseases, celiac disease results from of an immune response to self-antigens, leading to tissue destruction p...

Los géneros Goniomma y Oxyopomyrmex están constituidos por especies de hormigas granívoras típicos de la región mediterránea. Como características comunes presentan ojos grandes, con una morfología arriñonada, ubicados bajo la línea media de la cabeza. Los pocos estudios filogenéticos en los que aparecen algunas especies de estos géneros concluyen...

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine with an increasing incidence worldwide. It is a multifactorial disease where host genetic impairments and environmental triggers lead to the onset and maintenance of inappropriate host immune responses at the gut mucosa interface. The gut microflora regulates intestinal homeostasis...

Background & objectives Insulin regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) has been related to certain pathologies such as breast cancer, Alzheimer's disease and septic shock. IRAP is encoded by the leucyl/cystinyl aminopeptidase (LNPEP) gene. The genetic variation in the LNPEP gene has been analyzed in relation with the mortality and vasopressin clearance in...

The hemipteran subfamily Triatominae includes 150 blood-sucking species, vectors of Chagas disease. By far the most specious genus is Triatoma, assembled in groups, complexes and subcomplexes based on morphological similarities, geographic distribution and genetic data. However, many molecular studies questioned the species integration of several s...

Three different complete mariner elements were found in the genome of the ant Tapinoma nigerrimum. One (Tnigmar-Mr) was interrupted by a 900-bp insertion that corresponded to an incomplete member of a fourth mariner element, called Azteca. In this work, we isolate and characterize full-length Tnigmar-Az elements in T. nigerrimum. The purpose of thi...

The ladybird Henosepilachna argus Geoffroy, 1762 has been cytogenetically studied. In addition we have conducted a review of chromosome numbers and the chromosomal system of sex determination available in the literature in species belonging to the genus Henosepilachna and in its closely related genus Epilachna. Chromosome number of H. argus was 2n=...

The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) has been used as material for numerous cytogenetic studies. Its genome size is estimated to be 8.55 Gb of DNA comprised in 11 autosomes and the X chromosome. Its X0/XX sex chromosome determinism therefore results in females having 24 chromosomes whereas males have 23. Surprisingly, little is known about the...

The identity and evolutionary relationships of the genus Rhyssocolpus are analysed and discussed using an integrative approach including morphological data and partial SSU-rDNA sequences. An Iberian population of R. iuventutis is characterised in detail, providing the first SEM observations of the genus. New sequences of the genera Enchodelus and R...

Extraordinarily high rates of recombination have been observed in some eusocial species. The most popular explanation is that increased recombination increases genetic variation among workers, which in turn increases colony performance, for example by increasing parasite resistance. However, support for the generality of higher recombination rates...

Supplementary data table.

Reference list for the supplementary data table.

Difference chromosome number between eusocial and solitary species. Table S4 Difference chromosome number eusocial continuum. Table S5 Correlation between chromosome number and colony size. Table S6 Chromosome number, colony size and colony relatedness. Table S7 Chromosome number and worker castes. Table S8 Difference chromosome number between euso...

The identity and evolutionary relationships of the genus Rhyssocolpus are analysed and discussed using an integrative approach including morphological data and partial SSU-rDNA sequences. An Iberian population of R. iuventutis is characterised in detail, providing the first SEM observations of the genus. New sequences of the genera Enchodelus and R...

The subfamily Triatominae, vectors of Chagas disease, comprises 140 species characterized by a highly homogeneous chromosome number. We analyzed the chromosomal distribution and evolution of repeated sequences in Triatominae genomes by Genomic in situ Hybridization using Triatoma delpontei and Triatoma infestans genomic DNAs as probes. Hybridizatio...