Maintenance of primary cell cultures of immunocytes from Cacopsylla spp. psyllids: a new in vitro tool for the study of crop pest insects

Primary cell cultures of immunocytes have been developed from the three psyllid species Cacopsylla melanoneura, Cacopsylla pyri (vectors of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’ and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri’, respectively) and Cacopsylla crataegi. The medium most suitable of those evaluated was Hert-Hunter 70 (HH70) psyllid medium. In fact, good survival and proliferation of the Cacopsylla immunocytes for over 60 d were observed, with mitosis activities starting at 15-d post culture. Moreover, adhesion and phagocytosis activities were confirmed for all the psyllid cell cultures by functionality tests. Morphological examination of cultured immunocytes revealed the presence of different cell types in all the three psyllid species in accordance to published data about insect immunocytes. The in vitro maintenance of psyllid immunocytes represents a powerful tool for a wide range of applications, especially for psyllid cell biology. In particular, in-depth studies on the biology of psyllids as vector insects as well as analyses to understand the mechanisms behind the interactions with pathogens and symbionts are now possible. These cultures can be used as an in vitro model to study psyllid humoral immune responses, which also will allow in-depth investigations on the abilities of psyllids as vectors of phytoplasmas. All these applications provide new opportunities to develop more focused and specific pest control strategies.