Lessons learned about the biology and genomics of Diaphorina citri infection with "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" by integrating new and archived organ-specific transcriptome data.

Background Huanglongbing, a devastating disease of citrus, is caused by the obligate, intracellular bacterium "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" (C Las). C Las is transmitted by Diaphorina citri , the Asian citrus psyllid. Development of transmission-blocking strategies to manage huanglongbing relies on knowledge of C Las and D. citri interactions at the molecular level. Prior transcriptome analyses of D. citri point to changes in psyllid biology due to C Las infection but have been hampered by incomplete versions of the D. citri genome, proper host plant controls, and/or a lack of a uniform data analysis approach. In this work, we present lessons learned from a quantitative transcriptome analysis of excised heads, salivary glands, midguts, and bacteriomes from C Las-positive and C Las-negative D. citri using the chromosomal length D. citri genome assembly. Results Each organ had a unique transcriptome profile and response to C Las infection. Though most psyllids were infected with the bacterium, C Las-derived transcripts were not detected in all organs. By analyzing the midgut dataset using both the Diaci_v1.1 and v3.0 D. citri genomes, we showed that improved genome assembly led to significant and quantifiable differences in RNA-sequencing data interpretation. Conclusions Our results support the hypothesis that future transcriptome studies on circulative, vector-borne pathogens should be conducted at the tissue-specific level using complete, chromosomal-length genome assemblies for the most accurate understanding of pathogen-induced changes in vector gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]