Lin Chun-Yi, Batuman Ozgur, Levy Amit
Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Lake Alfred, FL 33850, USA.
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Insects. 2023 Feb 8;14(2):166. doi: 10.3390/insects14020166.
Asian citrus psyllid () transmits the bacterial pathogen Liberibacter asiaticus (Las), the putative causative agent of citrus Huanglongbing disease (HLB). Insect-specific viruses can act against insects as their natural enemies, and recently, several -associated viruses were discovered. The insect gut plays an important role as not only a pool for diverse microbes but also as a physical barrier to prevent the spread of pathogens such as Las. However, there is little evidence of the presence of -associated viruses in the gut and of the interaction between them and Las. Here, we dissected psyllid guts collected from five growing regions in Florida, and the gut virome was analyzed by high throughput sequencing. Four insect viruses, including associated C virus (DcACV), densovirus (DcDV), reovirus (DcRV), and flavi-like virus (DcFLV), were identified, and their presence in the gut, including an additional cimodo-like virus (DcCLV), were confirmed with PCR-based assays. Microscopic analysis showed that DcFLV infection leads to morphological abnormalities in the nuclear structure in the infected psyllid gut cells. The complex and diverse composition of microbiota in the psyllid gut suggests a possible interaction and dynamics between Las and the associated viruses. Our study identified various -associated viruses that localized in the psyllid gut and provided more information that helps to evaluate the potential vectors for manipulating Las in the psyllid gut.
亚洲柑橘木虱传播细菌性病原菌亚洲韧皮杆菌（Las），它被认为是柑橘黄龙病（HLB）的病原体。昆虫特异性病毒可以作为昆虫的天敌发挥作用，最近，发现了几种与亚洲柑橘木虱相关的病毒。昆虫肠道不仅作为多种微生物的储存库，而且作为防止诸如Las等病原体传播的物理屏障，起着重要作用。然而，几乎没有证据表明肠道中存在与亚洲柑橘木虱相关的病毒，以及它们与Las之间的相互作用。在这里，我们解剖了从佛罗里达州五个种植区采集的木虱肠道，并通过高通量测序分析了肠道病毒组。鉴定出四种昆虫病毒，包括相关的C病毒（DcACV）、浓核病毒（DcDV）、呼肠孤病毒（DcRV）和黄病毒样病毒（DcFLV），并通过基于PCR的检测方法确认了它们在肠道中的存在，包括另外一种类西摩多病毒（DcCLV）。显微镜分析表明，DcFLV感染导致受感染木虱肠道细胞的核结构出现形态异常。木虱肠道中微生物群的复杂多样组成表明Las与相关病毒之间可能存在相互作用和动态变化。我们的研究鉴定出了定位于木虱肠道中的各种与亚洲柑橘木虱相关的病毒，并提供了更多有助于评估在木虱肠道中操控Las的潜在媒介的信息。
