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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #406011
Research Project: New Technologies and Strategies for Managing Emerging Insect Pests and Insect Transmitted Pathogens of Potatoes

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Sub-optimal temperatures lead to altered expression of stress-related genes and increased ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ accumulation in potato psyllid

Author
item FISHER, TONJA - University Of Kentucky
item Munyaneza, Joseph - Joe
item BROWTH, JUDITH - University Of Arizona

Submitted to: Frontiers in Insect Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2023
Publication Date: 1/12/2024
Citation: Fisher, T.W., Munyaneza, J.E., Browth, J.K. 2024. Sub-optimal temperatures lead to altered expression of stress-related genes and increased ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ accumulation in potato psyllid. Frontiers in Insect Science. 3:1279365. https://doi.org/10.3389/finsc.2023.1279365.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/finsc.2023.1279365

Interpretive Summary: Liberibacter solanacearum is a plant pathogen that causes zebra chip disease of potato and is transmitted by the insect potato psyllid. Researchers at the USDA-ARS in Wapato and University of Arizona investigated how Liberibacter is inflenced by hot temperatures and the affects of Liberibacter on expression of stress-related genes in the psyllid vector. Liberibacter multiplication rates within the vector were faster at cooler temperatures compared with hot temperatures. In addition, Liberibacter-infected psyllids reared at cooler temperatures expressed high amounts of stress-related genes. Results shed light on the interaction between temerature and colonization of potato psyllid vectors by Liberibacter, and will aid in the design and interpreation of future studies on epidemiology of zebra chip disease.

Technical Abstract: The potato psyllid (PoP) Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc.) (Homoptera: Hemiptera) is the insect vector of the fastidious bacterium “Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum” (CLso), which infects both PoP and cultivated and wild solanaceous plant species. The bacterium is the causal agent of “zebra chip” disease of potato, and vein greening of tomato, making tubers and/or fruits, respectively, unmarketable. Temperature influences the initiation and progression of ZC disease symptom development in CLso-infected potato leaves and tubers, and during seasonal transition from moderate to high temperatures, PoP dispersal-migration is triggered and host plants suitable for reproduction become less available. Here, Illumina RNA-Seq analysis was used to characterize relative gene expression for CLso-infected and -uninfected adult PoP reared at different temperatures. Quantitative-PCR (qPCR) was used to determine CLso genome copy number in psyllids reared at previously reported permissible and non-permissible temperatures 18°C, 24°C, and 30°C. The relative gene expression was variable at the different temperatures, with those reared at 18°C and 30°C exhibited greater-fold increased expression of psyllid encoded, stress-related and CLas-invasion-related proteins. Based on results of real-time quantitative PCR CLso accumulation was significantly lower in psyllids reared at 18°C and 30°C, compared 24°C.