{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T03:55:28Z","timestamp":1792036528892,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759881600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759881600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["U23A20197"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U23A20197"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32202395"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32202395"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008766","name":"Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["103-722022001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["103-722022001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008766","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Phloem-inhabiting unculturable bacterial pathogens are persistently transmitted by insect vectors. However, how they evade insect immune responses to ensure persistent transmission remains unknown. The important melanization immune response in insects is triggered by cleavage of prophenoloxidase (PPO) into active phenoloxidase (PO) via clip-domain serine proteases (CLIPs). Here, we demonstrate that infection of\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Candidatus<\/jats:italic>\n                      Liberibacter asiaticus (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                      Las) in psyllid vectors activates the peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP)-CLIP1-CLIP4-PPO-PO signaling cascade to induce a mild melanization response, ensuring persistent\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                      Las infection without causing significant insect fitness costs to the insect. A\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                      Las-encoded secretory protein, SDE3230, directly interacts with PGRP and suppresses its activity in transducing this signaling cascade. CLIP4 cleaves PPO between arginine 125 and methionine 126 residues to active PO to induce melanization, and this cleavage pattern in psyllid is distinct from other insects. However, SDE3230 competitively binds to this cleavage site of PPO with CLIP4, thereby suppressing PPO effective cleavage. Collectively, these findings reveal the dual role of SDE3230 in facilitating the mild melanization response, benefitting persistent\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                      Las infection and insect fitness.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Psyllid-borne huanglongbing is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide, causing billions of dollars in annual production losses and threatening the entire citrus industry. Currently, the mechanism by which the causal agent\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Candidatus<\/jats:italic>\n                        Liberibacter asiaticus (\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                        Las) antagonizes psyllid innate immune responses to facilitate its coexistence with psyllid vectors is still unknown. Here, we report that\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                        Las exploits the highly expressed secretory protein SDE3230 in psyllids to suppress the important melanization immune response in hemolymph via inhibiting the pattern recognition receptor PGRP activity and the cleavage of prophenoloxidase into active phenoloxidase by clip-domain serine proteases. The pattern of PPO cleavage is novel, and this process ultimately ensures persistent\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                        Las infection and insect fitness. Our findings provide insights into how\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                        Las has evolved novel strategies to evade the insect melanization response, thereby facilitating persistent\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">C<\/jats:italic>\n                        Las transmission.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.01896-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T13:00:18Z","timestamp":1756472418000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Unculturable bacteria exploit a secretory protein to antagonize insect melanization for persistent infection"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9952-9542","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"You","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongsheng","family":"Ren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Bin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8442-6089","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Qian","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0732-9752","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Taiyun","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"State Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ee\/nvv081"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2180-13-112"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1094\/PHYTO-12-12-0331-RVW"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-phyto-080516-035513"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cois.2023.101025"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1751-7915.13914"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-ento-120811-153542"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-15-1580-4_5"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/arch.21556"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.0105-2896.2004.0121.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2022.02.016"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2020.00785"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dci.2019.103584"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0906095106"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/abbi.1995.1337"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/s0965-1748(02)00191-1"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ibmb.2021.103699"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_19_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24010406"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_20_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/arch.21764"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_21_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijbiomac.2020.03.003"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_22_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s42003-022-04340-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2016.01989"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_24_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/mpp.12015"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_25_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-04140-9"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_26_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1104\/pp.20.00348"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_27_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15548627.2023.2213040"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_28_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ibmb.2022.103775"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_29_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0062937"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_30_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2014.00252"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_31_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cois.2015.09.003"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_32_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1615\/critreveukargeneexpr.v22.i3.90"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_33_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.molimm.2003.10.011"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_34_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.immuni.2006.02.012"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_35_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2022.905357"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_36_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-018-0214-7"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_37_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/imm.12349"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_38_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mBio.01453-20"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_39_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2022.904244"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_40_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/erad176"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_41_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biochi.2014.03.007"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_42_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.celrep.2019.03.101"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_43_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1074\/jbc.M208900200"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_44_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JVI.07121-11"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_45_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btab399"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_46_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms241713228"}],"container-title":["mBio"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/mbio.01896-25","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/mbio.01896-25","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T13:05:32Z","timestamp":1759928732000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/10.1128\/mbio.01896-25"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Jorge E.","family":"Vidal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]]},"references-count":45,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1128\/mbio.01896-25"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/mbio.01896-25","relation":{},"ISSN":["2150-7511"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2150-7511","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2025-06-25","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2025-07-31","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2025-08-29","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e01896-25"}}