Sitobion avenae Transcriptome or Gene expression

Most plant viruses maintain complex interactions with their vector/-or non-vector insects, and can indirectly (via host plants) or directly affect the fitness of insects. However, little is known about the genes involved in the interactions between insects and transmitted or non-transmitted virus, especially non-transmitted virus. Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) is a vector of barley yellow dwarf virus GAV strains (BYDV-GAV) and non-vector of wheat dwarf virus (WDV, transmitted by the leafhopper Psammotettix alienus (Dahlbom)). In this study, S. avenae was utilized to determine the transcriptomic responses after feeding on the wheat infected by two viruses respectively using an Illumina Hiseq sequencing platform. The transcriptomic data presented 61,508 unigenes, of which 854 differentially expressed. Moreover, besides sharing 208 genes, the number of differentially expressed genes in S. avenae exposed to BYDV (800) is higher than that of exposed to WDV (262). The DEGs related to immune and fitness of S. avenae in response to BYDV and WDV infection were analyzed though the Gene Ontologies (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). After feeding on the wheat infected by BYDV, the gene of S. avenae (vector) involved in immune response, developmental process, multicellular organismal process, reproduction and growth were differentially expressed; after feeding on the wheat infected by WDV, the gene of S. avenae (non-vector) involved in immune response, developmental process, multicellular organismal process were differentially expressed and the number were lower than former. This study provides the theoretical foundation to explore the molecular mechanism that wheat virus affects both vector and non-vector aphid's fitness.