Annotation of Genes Involved in the Ecdysteroidogenic Pathway in Diaphorina cifri.

To combat the threat of citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing or HLB). it is essential to gain a thorough understanding of the Asian cirrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri), the insect vector. HLB is caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, which affects the phloem of cirrus trees and hampers the efficient transport of nutrients. This ultimately leads to crop failure and the eventual death of the citrus tree. This project aims to identify specific genes that may be involved in the vector's ability to survive and reproduce. Chai-acterization of these genes will provide a foundation of understanding their role in the insect's ability to vector the disease. The Halloween genes are involved in the biosynthesis of ecdysteroids, which play a crucial role in regulating the timing and progression of molting and metamorpho-Sis in insects. The ecdysteroidogenic pathway feeds into the 20-hydroxyecdysone (2OE) signaling pathway, which activates nuclear receptors which modulate numerous physiological processes. A total of 7 Halloween genes and 7 nuclear receptors in the 2OE signaling cascade were identified in the D. citri genome. Comparative analysis of these genes showed predicted gene models to be accurate rep - resentations of gene structures. When compared to other hemipterans, the amino acid sequence length and conservation (percent identity and similarity) along with identification of core domains supported the completeness of the gene models. Accurate annotation of the gene models in D. citri provides a valuable resource for further functional and comparative genomics studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]