Meeting Abstract
Aphids and their endosymbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, are metabolically integrated in their biosynthesis of several amino acids. At the aphid/Buchnera symbiotic interface amino acid transporters shuttle amino acids and/or metabolites thereby facilitating the metabolic integration. In general, amino acid transporters transport precursors amino acids from aphid hemolymph to Buchnera and return Buchnera synthesized amino acids in response to aphid demand. Here, we generated transcriptomes using next generation sequencing from guts, bacteriocytes (the aphid cells harboring Buchnera), and the whole insects of Myzus persicae. These data will be assembled de novo using Trinity. Then, bacteriocyte specific/enriched amino acid transporters will be annotated through a differential gene expression analysis and validated through quantitative real-time PCR. Our analyses will determine the subset of amino acid transporters recruited at the Myzus/Buchnera symbiotic interface and facilitate comparative analysis of the evolution of host/symbiont metabolic integration among aphids.
