Using high throughput sequencing to link cotton fleahopper gut content to host plants

The cotton fleahopper (CFH), Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter), is an early season cotton pest whose feeding can result in square abortion, irregular plant growth, and delayed plant maturity. Prior to infesting cotton, the CFH is an opportunistic or obligatory feeder that has been documented on over 160 host plants across 35 families. Previous host plant identifications were based on field observation and/or controlled feeding studies under laboratory conditions. Thus, these methods may not accurately represent the plants CFHs feed on in the field. To more accurately identify the plants CFH feed upon before moving to cotton, we used amplicon sequencing to identify plants within the gut of single CFH nymphs. In this proof-of-concept study we analyzed samples collected from targeted plants (horsemint, cotton, and croton) as well as from fields of mixed plant composition at various locations in the Brazos River Bottom cotton production area of Texas. Sequencing results indicated host plants can be identified to the family level and, moreover, most could be cross referenced to plants identified in the mixed composition fields during a previous survey. Applying this method to the CFH may give insight as to what plants adults and nymphs feed on before infesting cotton or what plants nymphs develop on in fields of mixed composition.