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Title: Psyllid biology: Expressed genes in Asian citrus psyllid

Author
item Hunter, Wayne
item Dowd, Scot
item Katsar, Catherine
item McKenzie, Cindy
item Shatters, Robert - Bob
item Weathersbee Iii, Albert
item Hall, David

Submitted to: Georgia Academy of Sciences Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/27/2008
Publication Date: 3/14/2008
Citation: Hunter, W.B., Dowd, S.E., Katsar, C.S., McKenzie, C.L., Shatters, R.G., Weathersbee III, A.A., Hall, D.G. 2008. Psyllid biology: Expressed genes in Asian citrus psyllid [abstract]. 72nd Annual Meeting of the Florida Academy of Sciences in conjunction with the 85th Annual Meeting of the Georgia Academy of Sciences, March 14-15, 2008, Jacksonville, Florida. p. 5.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Functional genomics provides new insights into psyllid biology. We created and described the first genetic data set from the Asian citrus psyllid, AsCP, ‘Diaphorina citri’, Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae). The identification of these genes and proteins advances the field in understanding of the genetic basis of insect growth, development, and disease. The AsCP feeds on the sap of citrus trees and transmits the plant pathogenic bacterium, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticum’, which causes Huanglongbing, HLB, known as ‘Citrus Greening’ due to the discoloration of fruit. The disease causes severe economic losses to citrus industries worldwide. To better understand the role of psyllid biology and particularly to identify genes which function in: feeding, disease transmission, and the development of insecticide resistance, we undertook a large-scale 5' end sequencing project of cDNA clones from adult psyllids. Few genes have been specifically isolated from psyllids. In this project, we created a data set of over 5,906 cDNA clones, resulting in 4,445 high-quality AsCP sequences. Sequence alignment resulted in 2,123 total assembled sequences. Annotation to sequences in the database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, NCBI, using computer comparison software BLASTX, TBLASTX, and BLASTN, GenBank, nr ESTdb produced an identifiable unigene set of 517 sequences with significant identities to homologous genes. The remaining 63% of the sequences showed ‘no significant match’ in either the non-redundant protein or nucleic acid databases, demonstrating the need for more work to elucidate the psyllid genome. Twelve microsatellite markers were developed and the AsCP gene expression data set advances current research efforts in the identification and understanding of psyllid biology. Further characterization of these genes and proteins will provide other tools such as microarrays to conduct further functional genomic studies for the development of new management strategies against psyllids and the diseases they transmit.