Proceedings 2021, https://doi.org/10.3390/IECE-10365 www.mdpi.com/journal/proceedings Proceedings Picorna-Like Virus Discovered in Wild Lime Psyllid Leuronota fagarae Burckhardt (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) † Douglas S. Stuehler 1,2 *, Wayne B. Hunter 2 *, Yisel Carrillo-Tarazona 3 , Hector Espitia 3 , Tracey Bell 4 , Hannah R. Mann 5 , Sasha-Kay V. Clarke 6 , Joseph M. Cicero 7 , Jawwad A. Qureshi 8 and Liliana M. Cano 3 * 1. *Douglas S. Stuehler, ORISE participant, DOE/USDA, ARS, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA. Email: douglas.stuehler@gmail.com 2. *Wayne B. Hunter, USDA, ARS, 2001 South Rock Road, 2001. South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA. Email: wayne.hunter@usda.gov 3. Yisel Carrillo-Tarazona. University of Florida, IFAS, Department of Plant Pathology, Indian River Research and Education Center, 2199 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA. Email: yiselcarrillotar@ufl.edu 3. Hector Espitia, University of Florida, IFAS, Department of Plant Pathology, Indian River Research and Edu- cation Center, 2199 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA. Email: hespitianavarro@ufl.edu 4. Tracey Bell, Dept. Cell & Mol. Biol., Florida State University, 319 Stadium Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32306.Email: tnb18@my.fsu.edu 5. Hannah R. Mann, HRM, Ft. Pierce, FL, 34949, USA. Email: HannahRMann@gmail.com 6. Sasha-Kay V. Clarke, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, Email: sashakayclarke@yahoo.com 7. Joseph M. Cicero, University of Arizona, School of Plant Sciences, Tuscon, AZ. Email: jmc6@email.ari- zona.edu 8. Jawwad Qureshi, University of Florida, Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC), 2685 SR 29 North Immokalee, FL 34142. USA. Email: jawwadq@ufl.edu 3.*Liliana M. Cano, University of Florida, IFAS, Department of Plant Pathology, Indian River Research and Education Center, 2199 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA. Email: lmcano@ufl.edu † Presented at the 1st International Electronic Conference on Entomology (IECE 2021), 1–15 July 2021; Available online: https://iece.sciforum.net/. Abstract: As of March 2021, the Family: Picornaviridae contained 158 species grouped into 68 differ- ent genera. We report the identification of a new Picornaviridae-like viral specie isolated from the Wild Lime Psyllid (WLP), Leuronota fagarae. Extraction and sequencing of nucleic acid from WLP adult salivary glands identified a 5554 nt sequence with 52.75% identity to Diaphorina citri (Asian Citrus Psyllid) picorna-like virus polyprotein and 59.61% identity to the Bemisia tabaci (Silverleaf Whitefly) picorna-like virus polyprotein, NCBI BLASTx and BLASTp analysis. Sequence compari- sons of amino acids and nucleotides showed consistent similarity and motifs consistent with pi- corna-like virus polyproteins across 8 known species, with significant E-values of 7e-116 or less. Picornavirus genome polyproteins are around 2100-2400 aa in length, being cleaved into multiple active peptides to allow for viral replication. Phylogenetic comparisons using amino acid and nu- cleic acid polyprotein sequences showed a diverse radiant group of insect hosts. The discovery of a novel picorna-like virus in WLP whose niche overlaps with the Asian citrus psyllid in the state of Florida, USA, and which is strongly related to the D. citri picorna-like virus, provides an oppor- tunity to examine virus host specificity, and modes of transmission between these two psyllid spe- cies. Ultimately, research will examine the potential to use these viral pathogens for the manage- ment of D. citri populations to reduce the transmission of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the bac- terial pathogen of citrus trees causing Huanglongbing. Keywords: Huanglongbing; Picornaviridae; Diaphorina citri, Iflaviridae; polyprotein, RdRp, SNPs 1. Introduction Insects are known to be the largest and most diverse taxonomic class of animals in the world, with over one million classified species [1]. This extensive evolutionary divergence Citation: Stuehler, D.S., Hunter, W.B., Carrillo-Tarazona, Y., Es- pitia, H., Bell, T., Mann, H.R., Clarke, S.V., Cicero, J.M., Qureshi, J.M., Cano. L. Picorna-like Virus Discovered in Wild Lime Psyllid Leuronota fagarae Burckhardt (Hemiptera: Psylloidea), in Pro- ceedings of the 1st International Electronic Conference on Ento- mology, 1–15 July 2021, MDPI: Ba- sel, Switzerland, doi:10.3390/IECE-10365 Published: 30 June 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and in- stitutional affiliations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licen ses/by/4.0/).