Transcriptomic Characterization of Phototransduction Genes of the Asian Citrus Psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama

Opsin plays a regulatory role in phototaxis of <i>Diaphorina citri</i>, functioning as the initial station in the phototransduction cascade. Our study aimed to explore the <i>D. citri</i> phototransduction pathway to identify elicitors that may enhance <i>D. citri</i> phototaxis in the future. The RNAi technique was employed to inhibit <i>LW-opsin</i> gene expression, followed by RNA-Seq analysis to identify phototransduction genes. Finally, RT-qPCR was performed to validate whether genes in the phototransduction pathway were affected by the inhibition of <i>LW-opsin</i> expression. A total of 87 genes were identified within the transcriptome as involved in phototransduction based on KEGG functional annotation. Of these, 71 genes were identified as enriched in the phototransduction-fly pathway. These genes encode key proteins in this process, including <i>Gqα</i>, <i>Gqβ</i>, <i>Gqγ</i>, <i>phospholipase C β</i> (<i>PLCβ</i>), the cation channel <i>transient receptor potential</i> (<i>TRP</i>), and <i>TRP-like</i> (<i>TRPL</i>), among others. Moreover, the <i>LOC103513214</i> (<i>Gqβ</i>) and <i>LOC103518375</i> (<i>ninaC</i>) genes exhibited reduced expression when <i>LW-opsin</i> gene expression was suppressed. Our results provide a basis for further investigation of phototransduction in <i>D. citri</i>.