Abstract
Whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) are sap-sucking insect pests, and some cause serious damage in agricultural crops by direct feeding and by transmitting plant viruses. Whiteflies maintain close associations with bacterial endosymbionts that can significantly influence their biology. All whitefly species harbor a primary endosymbiont, and a diverse array of secondary endosymbionts. In this study, we surveyed 34 whitefly populations collected from the states of Sao Paulo, Bahia, Minas Gerais and Parana in Brazil, for species identification and for infection with secondary endosymbionts. Sequencing the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I gene revealed the existence of five whitefly species: The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci B biotype (recently termed Middle East-Asia Minor 1 or MEAM1), the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, B. tabaci A biotype (recently termed New World 2 or NW2) collected only from Euphorbia, the Acacia whitefly Tetraleurodes acaciae and Bemisia tuberculata both were detected only on cassava. Sequencing rRNA genes showed that Hamiltonella and Rickettsia were highly prevalent in all MEAM1 populations, while Cardinium was close to fixation in only three populations. Surprisingly, some MEAM1 individuals and one NW2 population were infected with Fritschea. Arsenopnohus was the only endosymbiont detected in T. vaporariorum. In T. acaciae and B. tuberculata populations collected from cassava, Wolbachia was fixed in B. tuberculata and was highly prevalent in T. acaciae. Interestingly, while B. tuberculata was additionally infected with Arsenophonus, T. acaciae was infected with Cardinium and Fritschea. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis on representative individuals showed that Hamiltonella, Arsenopnohus and Fritschea were localized inside the bacteriome, Cardinium and Wolbachia exhibited dual localization patterns inside and outside the bacteriome, and Rickettsia showed strict localization outside the bacteriome. This study is the first survey of whitely populations collected in Brazil, and provides further insights into the complexity of infection with secondary endosymionts in whiteflies.
Highlights
The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is one of the most devastating insect pests of the 20th century, being cosmopolitan and polyphagous [1]
Twenty two populations were identified as B. tabaci Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) species (B biotype), while one population was identified as the New World 2 (NW2) (Table 1)
This study presents, for the first time, a comprehensive survey of whitefly species that were detected in four states in eastern Brazil: Sao Paulo, Parana, Bahia and Minas Gerais
Summary
The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is one of the most devastating insect pests of the 20th century, being cosmopolitan and polyphagous [1]. Besides Portiera, whitefly populations from around the world were reported to harbor a diverse array of facultative secondary endosymbionts which are not essential for the species persistence and those include the Gammaproteobacteria Arsenophonus (Enterobacteriales), Hamiltonella (Enterobacteriales) [16,17], Fritschea (Chlamydiales) [18], Cardinium (Bacteroidetes) [19], the alphaproteobacteria Rickettsia (Rickettsiales) [20], Wolbachia (Rickettsiales) [21,22], and Orientia-like organism [23]. Additional T. vaporariorum populations were analyzed from Croatia and were reported to be infected with Portiera and Hamiltonella in addition to the previously reported infection with Arsenophonus [27] Other whitefly species such as the ash whitefly Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) from Croatia were surveyed and the same endosymbionts were detected similar to other whitefly species [28]. The results provide new infections with endosymbionts in whitefly species that have not been reported before, adding further complexity to the already known endosymbiont bacterial infections among whitefly populations around the world
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