Psyllid cell culture: A system to study Candidatus Liberibacter sp. replication

The Potato Psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is an important agricultural pest insect due to its ability to transmit the bacterial pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter psyllaurous. Candidatus Liberibacter is a phloem inhabiting bacterium that is introduced into the plant during feeding. The resulting disease is referred to as Zebra Chip of potato which is exemplified by ‘chip burn’ during processing. Efforts to isolate C. Liberibacter on artificial media have been unsuccessful; therefore, impeding further understanding of the relationship between the species of bacteria and Zebra Chip. C. Liberibacter is retained within the psyllid for several weeks. Recent availability of a psyllid cell culture medium, originally developed for the Asian citrus psyllid, made it possible to culture potato psyllid cells and the associated Liberibacter. Various cell lines were made using techniques such as dissections as well as using psyllids from different life stages in order to determine which cell line would be the most viable and were labeled BcBA-1, for Bactericera cockerelli Bextine-Arras-1. While the preliminary results show presence of CLp further analysis of the C. Liberibacter will be done to determine if there is an increase of these bacteria and whether the bacterium is intracellular or located on the exterior of the psyllid.