Insect Museum Open -omic Database (InsectMOoD)

An update about the ongoing research in InsectMOoD was provided by Lore Esselens (RMCA) during the 11th International Symposium on Fruit Flies of Economic Importance (ISFFEI, 13-8/11/2022, Sydney).

Lore compared quality and quantity of whole genome sequencing (WGS) data obtained from approximately 300 heterogeneous tephritid vouchers from the collections of RMCA.

The patterns observed allow better defining relationships between WGS performance, sample age, DNA fragmentation and contamination.

According to these results, a cost- and time-effective approach to DNA extraction and genomic library preparation has been defined for Museum insect vouchers ageing between 10 and 30 years and a more general decision map on wet- ad dry-lab procedures for the WGS of insect collections is currently being finalized.

The InsectMOoD open-access database for voucher archiving (including voucher metadata, genomic data and digital imaging) has been initiated and will be soon published in the framework of the projects InsectMOoD (BELSPO) and in synergy with SYNTHESYS+ (European Union, H2020).