Global genetic diversity and geographical distribution of Bemisia tabaci and its bacterial endosymbionts

PLoS One. 2019 Mar 19;14(3):e0213946. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213946. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Bemisia tabaci is one of the most threatening pests in agriculture, causing significant losses to many important crops on a global scale. The dramatic increase and availability of sequence data for B. tabaci species complex and its bacterial endosymbionts is critical for developing emerging sustainable pest management strategies which are based on pinpointing the global diversity of this important pest and its bacterial endosymbionts. To unravel the global genetic diversity of B. tabaci species complex focusing on its associated endosymbionts, along with Israeli whitefly populations collected in this study, we combined available sequences in databases, resulting in a total of 4,253 mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) sequences from 82 countries and 1,226 16S/23S rRNA endosymbiont sequences from 32 countries that were analyzed. Using Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, we identified two new B. tabaci groups within the species complex and described the global distribution of endosymbionts within this complex. Our analyses revealed complex divergence of the different endosymbiont sequences within the species complex, with overall one Hamiltonella, two Porteria (P1 and P2), two Arsenophonus (A1 and A2), two Wolbachia (super-groups O and B), four Cardinium (C1-C4) and three Rickettsia (R1-R3) groups were identified. Our comprehensive analysis provides an updated important resource for this globally important pest and its secondary symbionts, which have been a major subject for research in last three decades.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Bayes Theorem
  • Genetic Variation
  • Hemiptera / classification
  • Hemiptera / genetics*
  • Hemiptera / microbiology*
  • Host Microbial Interactions / genetics
  • Insect Control
  • Phylogeny
  • Symbiosis / genetics

Grants and funding

SK was supported with a Postdoctoral Fellowship # 2014–2016 from ARO. Research in the Ghanim lab is supported by grants from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) and the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture in Israel. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.