Composition and abundance of midgut surface proteins in two major hemipteran vectors of plant viruses, Bemisia tabaci and Myzus persicae.

Brush border membrane vesicles were prepared from dissected guts, and proteins extracted, identified and quantified from triplicate samples via timsTOF mass spectrometry. A total of 1699 B. tabaci and 1175 M. persicae proteins were identified. Following bioinformatics analysis and manual curation, 151 B. tabaci and 115 M. persicae proteins were predicted to localize to the surface of the gut microvilli. These proteins were further categorized based on molecular function and biological process according to Gene Ontology terms. The most abundant gut surface proteins were identified. The ten plasma membrane proteins that differed in abundance between the two insect species were associated with the terms “protein binding” and “viral processes”. In addition to providing insight into the gut physiology of hemipteran insects, these gut surface proteomes provide context for appropriate identification of plant virus receptors based on a combination of bioinformatic prediction and protein localization on the surface of the insect gut.