An open access resource portal for arthropod vectors and agri-cultural pathosystems: AgriVectors.org

Authors: SAHA, SURYA - Boyce Thompson Institute; Cooper, William - Rodney; HUNTER, WAYNE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); MULLER, LUKAS - Boyce Thompson Institute

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2021
Publication Date: 7/2/2021
Citation: Saha, S., Cooper, W.R., Hunter, W.B., Muller, L.A. 2021. An open access resource portal for arthropod vectors and agri-cultural pathosystems: AgriVectors.org. Meeting Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.3390/IECE-10576.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/IECE-10576

Interpretive Summary: Insect-vectored plant pathogens cause enormous economic losses to agriculture and major disruptions to global food production. Researchers of insect-vectored human or animal pathogens benefit greatly from an open access portal called VectorBase.org that provides a consolidated collection of large datasets and online tools for data analysis, but no such portal exists for researchers of plant pathogens. Researchers at the USDA-ARS in Wapato, Washington, and Fort Pierce, Florida, and at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Ithaca, New York, are developing such a portal called AgriVectors.org. This web portal provides a power tool for interdisciplinary and multicrop sharing of information and technology, and for adaptation of novel technologies to control other important agricultural diseases. The portal has already led to new collaborations between researchers of citrus greening disease and zebra chip disease of potato. Although the portal currently focuses on diseases of citrus and potato, the researchers plan to expand the database to include information on other plant pathogens and vectors, including x-disease of stone fruits

Technical Abstract: Arthropod vectors of plant pathogens cause enormous economic losses and are a fundamental challenge for sustainable food production. To develop more effective control of plant pathogens and pests, data pertaining to disease systems need to be consolidated, made accessible, searchable and amenable to data mining. The AgriVectors™ platform is an open access and comprehensive resource for growers, researchers and industry who are working on insect-vectored plant pathogens. The portal connects established public repositories with ‘pathosystem-specific’ data re-positories. Current resources include the Asian citrus psyllid, the potato psyllid and the bacterial pathogens they transmit to citrus and Solanaceous plants. Expansion to include resources for other important Hemipteran vectors (whiteflies, leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale, mealybugs etc.), thrips, and mites is planned. There is also the capacity to set up private and protected databases for protected access as needed. Linking visual data with gene expression profiles using 3D microCT technology will expand the understanding and use of diverse and complex data. The AgriVectors portal will extend this model beyond gene-centric omics-data to the broader Systems Biology Pathosystem-wide information, with integrated pest management, behavior, plant health, soil health and climate data to incorporate rapid phenotyping information from greenhouse and field trials. This will establish a foundation for more effective identification and development of solutions for the control of plant diseases. AgriVectors portal creates a user-friendly platform that fosters interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers of diverse plant pathosystems, to simplify data sharing, ideas, and technologies to develop solutions for managing plant diseases