Abstract
BackgroundThe Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is an invasive phloem-feeding insect pest of ash trees. Since its initial discovery near the Detroit, US- Windsor, Canada area in 2002, the spread of EAB has had strong negative economic, social and environmental impacts in both countries. Several transcriptomes from specific tissues including midgut, fat body and antenna have recently been generated. However, the relatively low sequence depth, gene coverage and completeness limited the usefulness of these EAB databases.Methodology and Principal FindingsHigh-throughput deep RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) was used to obtain 473.9 million pairs of 100 bp length paired-end reads from various life stages and tissues. These reads were assembled into 88,907 contigs using the Trinity strategy and integrated into 38,160 unigenes after redundant sequences were removed. We annotated 11,229 unigenes by searching against the public nr, Swiss-Prot and COG. The EAB transcriptome assembly was compared with 13 other sequenced insect species, resulting in the prediction of 536 unigenes that are Coleoptera-specific. Differential gene expression revealed that 290 unigenes are expressed during larval molting and 3,911 unigenes during metamorphosis from larvae to pupae, respectively (FDR< 0.01 and log2 FC>2). In addition, 1,167 differentially expressed unigenes were identified from larval and adult midguts, 435 unigenes were up-regulated in larval midgut and 732 unigenes were up-regulated in adult midgut. Most of the genes involved in RNA interference (RNAi) pathways were identified, which implies the existence of a system RNAi in EAB.Conclusions and SignificanceThis study provides one of the most fundamental and comprehensive transcriptome resources available for EAB to date. Identification of the tissue- stage- or species- specific unigenes will benefit the further study of gene functions during growth and metamorphosis processes in EAB and other pest insects.
Highlights
The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, a coleopteran insect, is a destructive forest pest of ash trees [1]
This study provides one of the most fundamental and comprehensive transcriptome resources available for Emerald ash borer (EAB) to date
EAB larvae, pre-pupae and pupae were collected from infested ash trees in Dutton, Ontario (42.65882N, 81.55498W), while adult males and females were obtained from infested logs from those locations that were incubated at room temperature
Summary
The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, a coleopteran insect, is a destructive forest pest of ash trees [1]. It is still continuing to spread into new areas, which poses a threat to an estimated 10 billion ash trees in Canada and the US [3]. In the 25 US states where EAB is present, the costs are estimated to reach approximately $10.7 billion for the period of 2009–2019 [5]. The Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is an invasive phloem-feeding insect pest of ash trees. Since its initial discovery near the Detroit, US- Windsor, Canada area in 2002, the spread of EAB has had strong negative economic, social and environmental impacts in both countries. The relatively low sequence depth, gene coverage and completeness limited the usefulness of these EAB databases
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