Location: Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research
Project Number: 8062-30400-001-026-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Dec 1, 2025
End Date: Jun 30, 2026
Objective:
Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) is a significant threat to potato production, causing economic losses due to reduced yield and tuber quality. In nature, the virus is solely transmitted by an aphid vector, Myzus persicae (green peach aphid), in a circulative, nonpropagative manner. In the US, current PLRV management strategies heavily depend on neonicotinoid insecticides to control aphid populations. However, the environmental concerns and increasing regulatory restrictions associated with neonicotinoids underscore the urgent need
for sustainable alternatives. The objective of this project is to identify targets in the aphid gut using Yeast 2 Hybrid for development of biological tactics that interfere with PLRV transmission.
Approach:
The overarching goal is to disrupt PLRV transmission by identifying aphid gut proteins that interact with the NRTD and leveraging this knowledge to develop alternatives to neonicotinoid insecticides in future research that builds on these foundational data. We will achieve this using the following approach:
1. Isolation of aphid gut mRNA. We will extract high-quality mRNA from non- viruliferous M. persicae guts, representing the transcriptome of the aphid's digestive system.
2. Construction of a cDNA library from aphid gut mRNAs. We will develop acomprehensive, normalized cDNA library from aphid gut mRNA, enabling high-throughput screening in the Y2H system.
3. Screening the yeast-2-hybrid library. We will use the NRTD as bait in the Y2H system to identify interacting aphid gut proteins, targeting those critical for viral uptake and transport.