Integration of transcriptomics and network analysis reveals co-expressed genes in Frankliniella occidentalis larval guts that respond to tomato spotted wilt virus infection

BMC Genomics

Jinlong Han¹  Dorith Rotenberg¹ 

[1] Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, 27695, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA;

关键词: Orthotospovirus;    Thysanoptera;    Virus-vector interactions;    Tomato spotted wilt virus;    Western flower thrips;    Larvae;    Gut tissue;    Transcriptome;    Weighted gene co-expression network analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12864-021-08100-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe gut is the first barrier to infection by viruses that are internally borne and transmitted persistently by arthropod vectors to plant and animal hosts. Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), a plant-pathogenic virus, is transmitted exclusively by thrips vectors in a circulative-propagative manner. Frankliniella occidentalis (western flower thrips), the principal thrips vector of TSWV, is transmission-competent only if the virus is acquired by young larvae. To begin to understand the larval gut response to TSWV infection and accumulation, a genome-assisted, transcriptomic analysis of F. occidentalis gut tissues of first (early L1) and second (early L2 and late L2) instar larvae was conducted using RNA-Seq to identify differentially-expressed transcripts (DETs) in response to TSWV compared to non-exposed cohorts.ResultsThe larval gut responded in a developmental stage-dependent manner, with the majority of DETs (71%) associated with the early L1 stage at a time when virus infection is limited to the midgut epithelium. Provisional annotations of these DETs inferred roles in digestion and absorption, insect innate immunity, and detoxification. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis using all assembled transcripts of the gut transcriptome revealed eight gene modules that distinguish larval development. Intra-module interaction network analysis of the three most DET-enriched modules revealed ten central hub genes. Droplet digital PCR-expression analyses of select network hub and connecting genes revealed temporal changes in gut expression during and post exposure to TSWV.ConclusionsThese findings expand our understanding of the developmentally-mediated interaction between thrips vectors and orthotospoviruses, and provide opportunities for probing pathways for biomarkers of thrips vector competence.

【 授权许可】

CC BY