Skip to main content
Dryad

DNA sequences of Bemisia tabaci, endosymbionts, haplotype data

Data files

Sep 08, 2026 version files 273.35 KB

Click names to download individual files

Abstract

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisiatabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a polyphagous, phloem sap-feeding pest of highly economically important crops. This pest infests more than 600 horticultural and agricultural crops.It is thought to be a complex of physically similar cryptic species with variations in their genetic, physiological, and biological characteristics. In the present study, the incidence of the cryptic species B. tabaci and the viruliferous nature of whiteflies with Begomovirus in cucurbitaceous crops from seven agroclimatic zones of Tamil Nadu were assessed. Based on the available sequence data, we report the occurrence of four major cryptic species of whiteflies recorded in Tamil Nadu. The identified cryptic species of B. tabaci, viz., Asia I, Asia II (5), Asia II (7), and Asia II (8) were observed in all twenty-two locations in Tamil Nadu. The predominant occurrence of B. tabaci Asia I was recorded in three agroclimatic zones, viz., the western, northwestern and high rainfall zones of Tamil Nadu. Asia II (5) was detected in all six agroclimatic zones, while Asia-II (8) was detected in the western, north western and southern zones of Tamil Nadu. Asia II (7) was the only cryptic species recorded in the western zoneof Tamil Nadu.Studies on endosymbiont associations with these whiteflies revealed the presence of Portiera (PP593660), Fritchea (PP600138), Cardinium (PP600148), Hamiltonella (PP593664), Wolbachia (PP593662), and Rickettsia (PP590220) in the reported cryptic species of B. tabaci. Hap_2, hap_14, hap_35, hap_42, hap_79, and hap_80 were the haplotypes of B. tabacion cucurbitaceous crops in Tamil Nadu. Asia II (5) exhibited the highest haplotype diversity, and Asia I showed a high level of nucleotide diversity. These results will be useful for understanding outbreaks of B. tabaci and developing efficient management strategies for viruses that are transmitted by B. tabaci.