The Asian citrus psyllid,Diaphorina citri Kuwayama,is among the most im-portant pests of citrus.It is the main vector of the Huanglongbing(HLB)pathogen Can-didatus Liberibacter asiaticus(CLas),which causes severe loss...The Asian citrus psyllid,Diaphorina citri Kuwayama,is among the most im-portant pests of citrus.It is the main vector of the Huanglongbing(HLB)pathogen Can-didatus Liberibacter asiaticus(CLas),which causes severe losses in citrus crops.Control of D.citri is therefore of paramount importance to reduce the spread of HLB.In this re-gard,using RNA interference(RNAi)to silence target genes is a useful strategy to control psyllids.In this study,using RNAi,we examined the biological functions of the V-ATPase subunit E(V-ATP-E)gene of D.citri,including its effect on acquisition of CLas.The amino acid sequence of V-ATP-E from D.citri had high homology with proteins from other insects.V-ATP-E was expressed at all D.citri life stages analyzed,and the expres-sion level in mature adults was higher than that of teneral adults.Silencing of V-ATP-E resulted in a significant increase in mortality,reduced body weight,and induced cell apop-tosis of the D.citri midgut.The reduced expression of V-ATP-E was indicated to inhibit CLas passing through the midgut and into the hemolymph,leading to a majority of CLas being confined to the midgut.In addition,double-stranded RNA of D.citri V-ATP-E was safe to non-target parasitic wasps.These results suggest that V-ATP-E is an effective RNAi target that can be used in D.citri control to block CLas infection.展开更多
基金supported by the National Joint Fund for Regional Innovation and Development(U22A20481)the Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture Project(NT2021003)the National High-Level Talent Special Support Plan(2020)to BLQ and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2022M711208)to CFG。
文摘The Asian citrus psyllid,Diaphorina citri Kuwayama,is among the most im-portant pests of citrus.It is the main vector of the Huanglongbing(HLB)pathogen Can-didatus Liberibacter asiaticus(CLas),which causes severe losses in citrus crops.Control of D.citri is therefore of paramount importance to reduce the spread of HLB.In this re-gard,using RNA interference(RNAi)to silence target genes is a useful strategy to control psyllids.In this study,using RNAi,we examined the biological functions of the V-ATPase subunit E(V-ATP-E)gene of D.citri,including its effect on acquisition of CLas.The amino acid sequence of V-ATP-E from D.citri had high homology with proteins from other insects.V-ATP-E was expressed at all D.citri life stages analyzed,and the expres-sion level in mature adults was higher than that of teneral adults.Silencing of V-ATP-E resulted in a significant increase in mortality,reduced body weight,and induced cell apop-tosis of the D.citri midgut.The reduced expression of V-ATP-E was indicated to inhibit CLas passing through the midgut and into the hemolymph,leading to a majority of CLas being confined to the midgut.In addition,double-stranded RNA of D.citri V-ATP-E was safe to non-target parasitic wasps.These results suggest that V-ATP-E is an effective RNAi target that can be used in D.citri control to block CLas infection.
