Midgut surface proteomes of Bemisia tabaci and Myzus persicae, two major hemipteran vectors of plant viruses

Aphids and whiteflies are of particular agricultural importance due to their role as vectors for hundreds of plant viruses, many of which enter the insect via the gut. To facilitate the identification of novel targets for disruption of plant virus transmission, we compared the relative abundance and composition of the gut surface proteomes of adult whitefly, Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae), representing the first study comparing the gut surface proteomes of two different insect species. Brush border membrane vesicles were prepared from dissected guts, and proteins extracted, identified and quantified from triplicate samples via timsTOF mass spectrometry. These gut surface proteomes provide context for appropriate identification of receptors that mediate the entry of circulatively transmitted plant viruses into the whitefly or aphid vector based on protein localization on the surface of the insect gut.