Whitefly Network Analysis Reveals Gene Modules Involved in Host Plant Selection, Development and Evolution

Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They cause severe damage by direct feeding as well as transmitting plant viruses to a wide range of plants. However, it remains largely unknown which genes play a key role in development and host selection. In this study, weighted gene co-expression network analysis was applied to construct gene co-expression networks in whitefly. Nineteen gene co-expression modules were detected from 15560 expressed genes of whitefly. Combined with the transcriptome data of salivary glands and midgut, we identified three gene co-expression modules related to host plant selection. These three modules contain genes related to host-plant recognition, such as detoxification genes, chemosensory genes and some salivary gland-associated genes. Results of Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses elucidated the following pathways involved in these modules: lysosome, metabolic and detoxification pathways. The modules related to the development contain two co-expression modules; moreover, the genes were annotated to the development of chitin-based cuticle. This analysis provides a basis for future functional analysis of genes involved in host-plant recognition.

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A CELLULOSE-HYDROLYZING FACTOR IN APHID SALIVA

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z65-048 ◽

1965 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 489-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jean B. Adams ◽

Margaret E. Drew

Keyword(s):

Host Plant ◽

Carboxymethyl Cellulose ◽

Host Plants ◽

Host Plant Selection ◽

Plant Selection ◽

Wide Range ◽

Insect Culture ◽

Vitis Sp

Fifty-eight species of aphids from a wide range of host plants, one leafhopper species from Vitis sp., and a psyllid from Alnus rugosa have been examined for their salivary ability to hydrolyse carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) substrates. Most of these insects, when allowed to probe and secrete saliva into CMC-filled parafilm "sachets", reduced the CMC to glucose and sometimes to glucose and cellobiose. The presence of this cellulose-hydrolyzing factor varied among species, and within species according to morph, season, and host plant from which the insect culture had been derived. The behavior of the insects on the sachets resembled the characteristic "test probing" of aphids described by many authors. It is suggested that salivary components secreted during such test probes play a role in host plant selection and subsequent exploitation.

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Host plant selection and virus transmission by Rhopalosiphum maidis are conditioned by potyvirus infection in Sorghum bicolor

Arthropod-Plant Interactions ◽

10.1007/s11829-020-09783-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 811-823

Author(s):

Peter Klein ◽

C. Michael Smith

Keyword(s):

Sorghum Bicolor ◽

Host Plant ◽

Mosaic Virus ◽

Virus Transmission ◽

Plant Viruses ◽

Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus ◽

Host Plant Selection ◽

Economic Damage ◽

Plant Selection ◽

Rhopalosiphum Maidis

AbstractMany plant viruses are significant pathogens that are able to utilize arthropod vectors to infect a vast range of host plants, resulting in serious economic damage to world food crops. One such crop is Sorghum bicolor, grain sorghum, which is the fifth most important global cereal crop, it is grown for human consumption, animal feed, and biofuel. In this study, the Potyviruses Johnsongrass mosaic virus (JGMV), Maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV), Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), and Sorghum mosaic virus (SRMV) were tested for their rates of transmission into tissues of S. bicolor by the corn leaf aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis. In addition, virus infected and non-infected S. bicolor plants were assessed for their effects on R. maidis host plant selection behavior. Further, the propagation of each virus (viral ssRNA copy number) in infected plants was determined using qPCR amplification of viral coating protein gene fragments. The mean rate of JGMV transmission into S. bicolor plants by R. maidis was significantly lower than transmission of MDMV, SCMV, and/or SRMV. Sorghum bicolor plants infected with MDMV, SCMV or SRMV also attract significantly more R. maidis than non-infected plants. JGMV-infected plants do not effect a similar change in R. maidis plant choice preference. The preference of non-viruliferous R. maidis toward S. bicolor plants infected with MDMV, SCMV or SRMV, and lack of such attraction by JGMV-infected plants may play a role in virus transmission strategy and efficiency by the vector.

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