Abstract
Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), a pathogenic bacterium causing citrus Huanglongbing, forms a mutualistic relationship with the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. We find that CLas enhances the development of testes, ovaries, and mating behavior in D. citri. Transcriptome analysis of ovaries reveals that CLas infection upregulates ATP synthesis genes, increasing ATP levels in D. citri. Silencing the ATPSyn-β gene expression reduces ATP content in the ovary and triglyceride and glycogen content in the fat body, thus decreasing ovarian development, mating, and oviposition. ATPSyn-β localizes to the oocyte cell membrane interacts with vitellogenin (Vg), suggesting that it facilitates Vg entry into ovaries. In conclusion, CLas promotes ovarian development in D. citri by upregulating ATPSyn-β, which supports energy production and nutrient supply. This study provides valuable insights into CLas and may inform novel strategies to control citrus Huanglongbing by reducing D. citri populations.
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Data availability
Sequencing data have been uploaded to SRA database under PRJNA1138797. Source data underlying graphs can be obtained from Supplementary data 1. All other data are available from the corresponding author (or other sources, as applicable) on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Prof. Zhanjun Lu, Drs. Xiaoqiang Liu and Haizhong Yu for helping to collect D. citri. We are also grateful to Zhiyou Xuan, Xinying Yang, Caifu Liu for Newhall Navel oranges supplement. This research was financially supported by the Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough Plan of Ministry of Education of China (JYB2025XDXM701), National Nature Science Foundation of China (32160625), Science and technology projects in Jiangxi Province (20225BCJ22005), National Key R & D Program of China (2021YFD1400800), and the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-26).
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C.Y., W.D., and J.W. designed the research; C.Y., T.L., J.F., and N.W. performed the research; C.Y., Y.Y., T.P., Y.Z., and L.Y. analyzed the data; C.Y., W.D., and J.W. wrote the paper; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Yuan, C., Liu, T., Fan, J. et al. Pathogen promotes insect ovarian development by inducing a dual role of host ATPSyn-β. Commun Biol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-09489-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-09489-4
