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Neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptors are crucial regulators to insect physiological processes. The 21.0 Gb bases were obtained from Illumina sequencing of two libraries representing the female and male heads of Phauda flammans (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Phaudidae), which is a diurnal defoliator of ficus plants and usually outbreaks in the south and south-east Asia, to identify differentially expressed genes, neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptor whose tissue expressions were also evaluated. In total, 99,386 unigenes were obtained, in which 156 up-regulated and 61 down-regulated genes were detected. Fifteen neuropeptides (i.e., F1b, Ast, NP1, IMF, Y, BbA1, CAP2b, NPLP1, SIF, CCH2, NP28, NP3, PDP3, ARF2 and SNPF) and 66 neuropeptide receptor genes (e.g., A2-1, FRL2, A32-1, A32-2, FRL3, etc.) were identified and well-clustered with other lepidopteron. This is the first sequencing, identification neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptor genes from P. flammans which provides valuable information regarding the molecular basis of P. flammans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea cucumbers are widely consumed in Asia. This study developed a novel DNA mini-barcode mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COI) of 257 bp to discriminate sea cucumbers species in both raw and processed forms. We designed and compared four mini-barcoding primer sets based on PCR amplification rates against 40 authenticated sea cucumber species. The top-performing primer set was successful for most tested sea cucumber varieties. We also tested the DNA mini-barcode COI in 12 highly processed sea cucumber products using both Sanger sequencing and next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS). This is the first report of highly processed sea cucumber products that detected fraudulent replacement of sea cucumber by one or a blend of species using the NGS approach. The established DNA mini-barcoding system revealed that 83.33% (10/12) of highly processed sea cucumber products were mislabeled. This study identified a need for more regulation of the sea cucumber trade and suggested that DNA mini-barcoding combined with NGS could complement existing sea cucumber identification strategies. • Novel COI mini-barcode (257 bp) was developed to identify sea cucumber species. • Combination of mini-barcode with next generation sequencing for authenticating processed sea cucumber products. • DNA mini-barcoding system is effective in authenticating raw and processed sea cucumber products. • Detection of mislabeling in 83.33% of highly processed sea cucumber products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]