RESEARCH ARTICLE Identification of Novel and Conserved microRNAs in Homalodisca vitripennis, the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter by Expression Profiling

The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadelli-dae), is a xylem-feeding leafhopper and an important vector of the bacterium Xylella fasti-diosa; the causal agent of Pierce’s disease of grapevines. MicroRNAs are a class of small RNAs that play an important role in the functional development of various organisms includ-ing insects. In H. vitripennis, we identified microRNAs using high-throughput deep sequenc-ing of adults followed by computational and manual annotation. A total of 14 novel microRNAs that are not found in the miRBase were identified from adult H. vitripennis. Con-served microRNAs were also found in our datasets. By comparison to our previously deter-mined transcriptome sequence of H. vitripennis, we identified the potential targets of the microRNAs in the transcriptome. This microRNA profile information not only provides a more nuanced understanding of the biological and physiological mechanisms that govern gene expression in H. vitripennis, but may also lead to the identification of novel mecha-nisms for biorationally designed management strategies through the use of microRNAs