Comparative transcriptomic analyses revealed genes and pathways responsive to heat stress in Diaphorina citri

The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is a serious pest that feeds on plant phloem sap of citrus trees, and transmits Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, a bacterium that induces the destructive disease called Huanglongbing. Increasing evidence suggests that high temperatures could affect various biological traits, including size, longevity, mortality, behavior and metabolism of D. citri. However, the relevant mechanisms of heat stress remain unclear. In this study, a large set of transcriptomic data derived from D. citri adults were generated and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after heat stress were identified by RNA sequencing. A total of 118, 399 unigenes were obtained, from which 37, 665 were mapped to sequences from at least one database. Seven hundreds and twenty-two unigenes were affected by high temperature of 40 °C for 4 h, in which 486 up-regulated and 236 down-regulated, and part of heat shock proteins, antioxidant and detoxification genes and cathepsins were identified as the DEGs. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that part of genes involved in protein synthesis and processing, metabolism, immunity, and signal transduction were differentially expressed under heat stress. Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of 20 DEGs were confirmed by qRT-PCR, which verified the accuracy of high-throughput sequencing. Our results revealed that the response of D. citri adults to high temperatures is associated with a range of changes involved in various physiological and biochemical processes. Our data provide a basis for future research to improve our understanding on the molecular mechanism for heat responses in D. citri adults.