Thrips developmental stage-specific transcriptome response to tomato spotted wilt virus during the virus infection cycle in Frankliniella occidentalis, the primary vector

• Transcriptome response to TSWV infection was determined for first-instar larval, pre-pupal and adult thrips using RNA-Seq.
• Responses varied between stages, reflecting the coordination between development and the virus dissemination route.
• 90% of virus-responsive genes were down-regulated in L1 thrips; enriched in insect cuticle-associated proteins.
• The diversity of innate immune-related transcripts responsive to virus was most pronounced in the P1 stage.

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is transmitted by Frankliniella occidentalis in a circulative-propagative manner. Little is known about thrips vector response to TSWV during the infection process from larval acquisition to adult inoculation of plants. Whole-body transcriptome response to virus infection was determined for first-instar larval, pre-pupal and adult thrips using RNA-Seq. TSWV responsive genes were identified using preliminary sequence of a draft genome of F. occidentalis as a reference and three developmental-stage transcriptomes were assembled. Processes and functions associated with host defense, insect cuticle structure and development, metabolism and transport were perturbed by TSWV infection as inferred by ontologies of responsive genes. The repertoire of genes responsive to TSWV varied between developmental stages, possibly reflecting the link between thrips development and the virus dissemination route in the vector. This study provides the foundation for exploration of tissue-specific expression in response to TSWV and functional analysis of thrips gene function.