Annotation and analysis ofyellow genesinDiaphorina citri, vector for the Huanglongbing disease

Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease, is caused by the bacteriumCandidatusLiberibacter asiaticus (CLas) and represents a serious threat to global citrus production. This bacteria is transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid,Diaphorina citri(Hemiptera) and there are no effective in-planta treatments for CLas. Therefore, one strategy is to manage the psyllid population. Manual annotation of theD. citrigenome can identify and characterize gene families that could serve as novel targets for psyllid control. Theyellowgene family represents an excellent target asyellowgenes are linked to development and immunity due to their roles in melanization. Combined analysis of the genome with RNA-seq datasets, sequence homology, and phylogenetic trees were used to identify and annotate nineyellowgenes for theD. citrigenome. Phylogenetic analysis shows a unique duplication ofyellow-yinD. citri, with life stage specific expression for these two genes. Genomic analysis also indicated the loss of a gene vital to the process of melanization,yellow-f, and the gain of a gene which seems to be unique to hemipterans,yellow 9. We suggest thatyellow 9or the geneyellow 8(c), which consistently groups closely toyellow-f, may take on this role. Manual curation of genes inD. citrihas provided an in-depth analysis of theyellowfamily among hemipteran insects and provides new targets for molecular control of this psyllid pest. Manual annotation was done as part of a collaborative community annotation project (<ext-link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://citrusgreening.org/annotation/index">https://citrusgreening.org/annotation/index</ext-link>).