A comparative proteogenomic survey of differentially virulent Diuraphis noxia biotypes

Proteogenomics is a recently-developed tool useful in the correct annotation of protein-coding sequences in genomes, in the detection of rarely-transcribed sequences, and in the discovery of differential and unique protein expression among experimental groups.  We conducted proteogenomic analyses of secreted proteins collected from four separate, and differentially virulent, biotypes of the invasive wheat pest Diuraphis noxia (Russian wheat aphid, RWA) against databases consisting of predicted protein sequences from, and a six-frame translation of, the upcoming RWA genome.  The results reveal significant variance in the content and number of proteolytic peptides detected among the examined biotypes, and reveal differences in gene expression among biotypes, and in the composition of the secreted protein complement of each biotype.  The results also demonstrate divergence of specific RWA protein sequences from other studied aphids, and demonstrates the usefulness of proteogenomics in examining the basis of virulence in crop pests.