Dung beetle database: comparison with other invertebrate transcriptomes

The dung beetle E. intermedius, a member of the highly diverse order, Coleoptera has immense economic benefits. It was estimated that insect ecological services in the United States amounted to some $60 billion in 2006 with dung beetles being major contributors. E. intermedius may be endowed with a robust immune system given its microbe-rich habitat. Dung beetles live on juice and microbes from the dung and are therefore, potential models for the study of infectious agents and ecological damage. The E. intermedius database is a web-based system for the genome and transcriptome of the dung beetle. The database will be expanded to include differentially expressed genes in response o various stresses especially infectious agents such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. AVAILABILITY: The dung beetle transcriptome database is freely available at http://flylab.wits.ac.za/