Abstract
Candidatus Liberibacter solanacerum (CLso), transmitted by Bactericera trigonica in a persistent and propagative mode causes carrot yellows disease, inflicting hefty economic losses. Understanding the process of transmission of CLso by psyllids is fundamental to devise sustainable management strategies. Persistent transmission involves critical steps of adhesion, cell invasion, and replication before passage through the midgut barrier. This study uses a transcriptomic approach for the identification of differentially expressed genes with CLso infection in the midguts, adults, and nymphs of B. trigonica and their putative involvement in CLso transmission. Several genes related to focal adhesion and cellular invasion were upregulated after CLso infection. Interestingly, genes involved with proper functionality of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) were upregulated in CLso infected samples. Notably, genes from the endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD) and the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway were overexpressed after CLso infection. Marker genes of the ERAD and UPR pathways were also upregulated in Diaphorina citri when infected with Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). Upregulation of the ERAD and UPR pathways indicate induction of ER stress by CLso/CLas in their psyllid vector. The role of ER in bacteria–host interactions is well-documented; however, the ER role following pathogenesis of CLso/CLas is unknown and requires further functional validation.
Highlights
Insect transmitted bacterial diseases, mostly those caused by psyllid-transmitted Liberibacter spp. have been highly invasive in the last decade, rendering hefty economic losses to global crop production
Comparable to Candidatus Liberibacter solanacerum (CLso) infections in B. trigonica, we further investigated whether infection of D. citri by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inside the host cells
In order to gain insight into the molecular processes that play a role in CLso transmission, Illumina sequencing of cDNA libraries constructed from the reference pooled RNA from CLso infected or uninfected midguts, nymphs, and adults of Bactericera trigonica generated 55 Mb clean reads with a total length of 5.5 Gb bases
Summary
Mostly those caused by psyllid-transmitted Liberibacter spp. have been highly invasive in the last decade, rendering hefty economic losses to global crop production. Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso), causing diseases in solanaceous and umbelliferous crops, have caused severe economic losses to the citrus and potato industries [1,2]. Management practices for Liberibacter-caused diseases primarily revolve around chemical control with. Lone reliance on chemical management practices have severely marginalized the returns from crop production [13,14], along with the buildup of insecticide resistance [15]. Understanding the transmission process of Liberibacter by its psyllid vectors, and the molecular mechanisms that underlay this process, could be crucial to devise knowledge-based alternate management practices against Liberibacter-associated plant diseases
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