Welcome to Ghanim Lab

Our lab focuses on understanding how plant pathogens, mainly viruses and bacteria, are transmitted by insect vectors like whiteflies and psyllids. We study persistent transmission, where pathogens are acquired from infected plants, spend a latent period in the insect, and are then transmitted to new plants. Our goal is to identify key proteins involved in transmission that could be targeted to prevent it. We also explore how internal factors like bacterial endosymbionts and external factors like climate and agriculture affect transmission. Additionally, we investigate insect resistance to pesticides, resistance monitoring, pest identification, and collaborate with industry to develop new green pesticides.

Journal Covers Featuring Our Lab’s Research

Israel Journal of Plant Sciences Vol. 58 2010

Journal of Virology Vol. 84, No. 18 2010

Applied and Environmental Microbiology Vol. 78, No. 16 2012

Journal of Virology Vol. 88, No. 22 2014

Journal of Virology Vol. 90, No. 10 2016

Journal of Virology Vol. 93, No. 15 2019

Our Research

The lab studies how insect vectors like the whitefly Bemisia tabaci and psyllids transmit plant pathogens, focusing on key viruses and bacteria such as begomoviruses, poleroviruses, and Liberibacter species. Current research includes how viruses like Tomato yellow leaf curl virus and Pepper whitefly-borne vein yellows virus interact with their whitefly hosts, how climate affects virus transmission, and the molecular relationships between Liberibacter bacteria and psyllid vectors that impact crops like carrots, potatoes, and citrus.

Latest Publications

Begomovirus capsid proteins interact with cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-specific phosphodiesterase of its whitefly vector and modulate virus retention within its vector

Begomoviruses are whitefly-transmitted ss-DNA viruses that infect dicotyledonous plants and contribute to major economic losses to global crop production. Invasion and establishment of an aggressive cryptic species of Bemisia tabaci, known as the B cryptic species, has severely constrained vegetable production in the southeastern and southwestern United States. Disruption of genes/pathways critical for whitefly-mediated transmission can be effective for the management of begomoviruses. In this study, yeast two-hybrid (Y2H)-based screening of B. tabaci cDNA library identified a cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-specific phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) of the whitefly as an interacting partner with capsid proteins (CPs) of old- and new-world begomoviruses. Interactions of PDE4 with begomovirus CPs were validated by glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down assay and co-immunolocalization in whitefly …