Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences Revealed the Defense Mechanism of Citrus in Response to the Feeding of Asian Citrus Psyllid
Published:14 Sep.2022 Source:Horticultural Plant Journal
Citrus is a very important cash crop, which is widely distributed in the world. CitrusHuanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating disease that has led to an acute crisis for growers of citrus. The phloem-feeding Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri, is the main pest at the new shoot stage and is the only natural vector of HLB pathogenic bacteria. Little is known about how plants perceive and defend themselves from this destructive pest.
Recently, Horticultural Plant Journal published a research paper (online) entitled "Transcriptomic analysis reveals the defense mechanisms of citrus infested with Diaphorina citri", which was jointly completed by Zhang Xinxin research team from the Institute of Fruit Tree Research, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and South China Agricultural University.
The findings of this study greatly enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the defense response of citrus plants to D. citri infestation at the molecular level. Functional characterization of the candidate defense-related genes identified in this study will aid the molecular breeding of insect-resistant citrus varieties.