Differential Transmission of Old and New World Begomoviruses by Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) and Mediterranean (MED) Cryptic Species of <em>Bemisia tabaci</em>

oleh: Saurabh Gautam, Habibu Mugerwa, James W. Buck, Bhabesh Dutta, Tim Coolong, Scott Adkins, Rajagopalbabu Srinivasan

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-05-01

Deskripsi

Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) and Mediterranean (MED) are two of the most invasive members of the sweetpotato whitefly, <i>Bemisia tabaci,</i> cryptic species complexes and are efficient vectors of begomoviruses. <i>Bemisia tabaci</i> MEAM1 is the predominant vector of begomoviruses in open-field vegetable crops in the southeastern United States. However, recently <i>B. tabaci</i> MED also has been detected in the landscape outside of greenhouses in Florida and Georgia. This study compared the transmission efficiency of one Old-World (OW) and two New-World (NW) begomoviruses prevalent in the southeastern United States, viz., tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), cucurbit leaf crumple virus (CuLCrV), and sida golden mosaic virus (SiGMV) between <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1 and <i>B. tabaci</i> MED. <i>Bemisia tabaci</i> MEAM1 efficiently transmitted TYLCV, CuLCrV, or SiGMV, whereas <i>B. tabaci</i> MED only transmitted TYLCV. Percent acquisition and retention of OW TYLCV following a 72 h acquisition access period was significantly higher for <i>B. tabaci</i> MED than <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1. In contrast, <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1 acquired and retained significantly more NW bipartite begomoviruses, CuLCrV or SiGMV, than <i>B. tabaci</i> MED. Quantitative analysis (qPCR) of virus DNA in whitefly internal tissues revealed reduced accumulation of CuLCrV or SiGMV in <i>B. tabaci</i> MED than in <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) showed localization of CuLCrV or SiGMV in the midgut of <i>B. tabaci</i> MED and <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1. However, localization of CuLCrV or SiGMV was only observed in the primary salivary glands of <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1 and not <i>B. tabaci</i> MED. TYLCV localization was observed in all internal tissues of <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1 and <i>B. tabaci</i> MED. Overall, results demonstrate that both <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1 and <i>B. tabaci</i> MED are efficient vectors of OW TYLCV. However, for the NW begomoviruses, CuLCrV and SiGMV, <i>B. tabaci</i> MEAM1 seems to a better vector.