ARS | Publication request: HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS EXPRESSED IN ADULT GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER (HEMIPTERA: CICADELLIDAE: HOMALODISCA COAGULATA)

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome VX Conference Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: January 12, 2004
Publication Date: January 12, 2004
Citation: Hunter, W.B., Dang, P.M. 2004. Heat shock proteins expressed in adult glassy-winged sharpshooter (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Homalodisca coagulata) [Abstract]. Plant and Animal Genome Abstracts.

Technical Abstract: The glassy-winged sharpshooter, GWSS, Homalodisca coagulata Say, is considered a major threat to agriculture throughout California due to its ability to rapidly spread a bacterial pathogen, Xylella. This bacterium causes many diseases but one of the most severe is Pierce's Disease of grapes, where vines infected die within a short time. To halt the spread of GWSS scientist are examining the ability of the GWSS to overcome the hot temperatures found in the agricultural region in southern California. Some of these specific proteins produced in response to the extremely hot conditions have been identified using cDNA libraries made from the glassy-winged sharpshooter, GWSS. Scientists from the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory in Ft. Pierce, Florida, are using expressed sequence tags (ESTs), which are used to scan for and tag active genes within the GWSS. Several heat shock proteins, HSP, were isolated and identified from the GWSS. Further studies on the expression and functions of these proteins in response to temperature stress will advance our understanding of how the GWSS deals with the extreme temperatures found in southern California. By targeting these important proteins in GWSS survival it may be possible to shut them down thus leading to the development of new methods for insect pest management, thereby reducing the rapid spread of Pierce's Disease.