Project description:Trioza erytreae is a psyllid that feeds on citrus plants and other Rutaceae phloem sap, it is also a vector of the Huanglongbing disease (HLB) a highly aggressive disease caused by the bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter. One of the preferred plant hosts of Trioza erytreae is lemon (Citrus xlimon) plants, where it develops better than in other hosts. The reasoning behind this preference and better development is yet to be understood. To better understand this plant-insect interaction, two citrus hosts where infested with Trioza erytreae and their phloem sap proteomes were compared to their respective control. The hosts used in this study were the preferred host Citrus xlimon (lemon) and a common host Citrus sinensis (orange). The phloem sap was extracted from infested leaves of each host, and from leaves with a similar size and development from the respective controls. Protein extraction was preformed, and proteomic analysis was performed via nanoscale liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS). Four biological replicates were considered for each of the four treatments (infested lemon plants, control lemon plants, infested orange plants, control orange plants).
Project description:De novo assembly of the genome and transcriptome of Trioza erytreae (Hemiptera: Triozidae) and identification of insecticide-related genes
Project description:Trioza erytreae is the main vector for 'Candidatus Liberibacter africanus', the causative agent of African Citrus Greening disease. The insect is widespread in Africa, and has recently disseminated to Southwestern Europe. This study aimed at generating reference mitogenome sequences for T. erytreae, as a background for future genetic diversity surveys. Complete mitochondrial sequences of three specimens collected in Ethiopia, Uganda and South Africa were recovered using Ion Torrent technology. The mitogenomes of T. erytreae from Uganda and Ethiopia were highly similar, and distinct from that found in South Africa. The phylogeographic structure of T. erytreae was assessed using genetic clustering and pairwise distances, based on a dataset of public COI sequences recorded as T. erytreae. The dataset revealed ten haplotypes with strong phylogeographic structure in Africa and Europe. Three haplotypes found in Kenya on Clausena anisata belonged to pairs separated by distances as high as 11.2%, and were basal to all other sequences. These results indicate that not all sequences identified as T. erytreae belong to the same species, and that some degree of specificity with different plant hosts is likely to exist. This study provides new baseline information on the diversity of T. erytreae, with potential implications for the epidemiology of African Citrus Greening disease.