Acyrthosiphon
awild | February 24, 2010
Acyrthociphon pisum, the Pea Aphid
The genome sequence of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was published today in PLoS. Concurrently, a set of supporting papers has come out in Insect Molecular Biology. This genome is significant for a number of reasons- it's the first Hemipteran genome to be sequenced, aphids have an unusual reproductive cycle, and this particular species is a serious agricultural pest.
I've not had time to fully digest the paper, but it seems the salient features of this genome are:
extensive gene duplications
a higher gene count than most other known genomes (including…