Isolation and identification of culturable forms of bacteria from the sweet potato whitefly Bemesia tabaci Genn. (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in Jordan

Abstract

Homopteran insects contain bacteria in their cells and tissues known as "secondary symbionts," which under special environmental circumstances act against their host insects. In this study, both molecular- and culture-based methods were used to characterize the bacteria associated with the whitefly in Jordan. We isolated, cultured, and identified 11 species of bacteria from nymphs (6 species), adults (8 species), and parasitized pupae (2 species) of the whitefly Bemesia tabaci collected from different vegetable crops planted in different localities in Jordan. The identities of the cultured bacteria were evaluated using PCR with sequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Three gram-negative bacteria were identified as Erwinia persicinus, Pseudomonas plecoglossicida, and Pseudomonas putida. The identified gram-positive bacteria included Brevibacterium casei, Staphylococcus gallinarum, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Exiquobacterium acetylicum, Exiguobacterium undae, and Micrococcus caseolyticus.