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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #349617
Research Project: Biological, Genetic and Genomic Based Disease Management for Vegetable Crops

Location: Vegetable Research

Title: MicroRNA profiling of the whitefly bemisia tabaci in response to feeding on tomato infected with tomato yellow leaf curl virus

Author
item Hasegawa, Daniel
item Shamimuzzaman, Md - Shamim
item CHEN, WENBO - Boyce Thompson Institute
item Simmons, Alvin
item FEI, ZHANGJUN - Boyce Thompson Institute
item Ling, Kai-Shu

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/31/2018
Publication Date: 10/1/2018
Citation: Hasegawa, D.K., Shamimuzzaman, M., Chen, W., Simmons, A.M., Fei, Z., Ling, K. 2018. MicroRNA profiling of the whitefly bemisia tabaci in response to feeding on tomato infected with tomato yellow leaf curl virus. Phytopathology. 180:s1.260-s1.261. https://doi.org/10.1094/phyto-108-10-s1.240.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/phyto-108-10-s1.240

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a notorious vector for viruses that infect food and fiber production around the world. Among the hundreds of viruses that are transmitted by B. tabaci, 90% of the species belong to the genus Begomovirus. Recently, we sequenced the B. tabaci MEAM1 genome and profiled gene expression in whiteflies during feeding on tomato infected with Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). To investigate the regulatory mechanisms in whiteflies during TYLCV acquisition and transmission, we performed microRNA (miRNA) profiling of B. tabaci MEAM1 after feeding on tomato plants infected with TYLCV. A total of 160 miRNAs were identified, 68 being conserved miRNAs and 92 novel miRNAs that were unique to B. tabaci. Interestingly, only two miRNAs were differentially expressed in whiteflies that fed on TYLCV-infected tomato, compared to whiteflies that fed on noninfected tomato, and had predicted targets to Bta05482 (nuclear receptor) and Bta10702 (Very-long-chain (3R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydratase 2). We also mapped the miRNAs to the B. tabaci MED genome and identified six miRNAs that were unique to MEAM1. Lastly, to shed light on the relationship between B. tabaci regulatory miRNAs and gene expression, we referenced the miRNA expression data to gene expression in a transcriptome that was generated from the same pool of RNAs. Interestingly, approximately half of miRNAs correlated inversely with their predicted target transcript expression (e.g., upregulated miRNA/downregulated transcript). Together, we have tied miRNA datasets with genomic and transcriptomic information to provide an in-depth analysis on the underlying mechanisms of B. tabaci during virus acquisition and transmission.