Abstract
In China, Bemisia tabaci Q (commonly known as biotype Q) has rapidly displaced B (commonly known as biotype B) in the past 6 years. The mechanisms underlying such phenomenon have been studied extensively in recent years; however, we have not come to a definitive con-clusion yet. In the present study, the differences in host suitability between B and Q whitefly adults to five host plants (cabbage, cotton, cucumber, poinsettia, and tomato) were evaluated based on their respective feeding behaviors using a direct-current electrical penetration graph (DC-EPG) system. Pair-wise comparisons of B. tabaci B and Q feeding on each of the five host plants clearly indicate that Q feeds better than B on tomato, cotton and poinsettia, while B feeds better than Q on cabbage and cucumber. The EPG parameters related to both phloem and non-phloem phases confirm that cabbage and cucumber are best suited to B, while to-mato, cotton, and poinsettia are best suited to Q. Our present results support the contention that host suitability and adult feeding behavior contribute to the competitive displacement of biotype B by biotype Q. The discrepancy between field (previous studies) and laboratory results (this study), however, suggests that 1) whitefly displacement is apparently contributed by multiple factors; and 2) factor(s) other than the host plant suitability may play a vital role in dictating the whitefly biotypes in the field.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 697-706 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | International Journal of Biological Sciences |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 14 2012 |
Keywords
- Bemisia tabaci
- Competitive displacemen
- DC-EPG
- Feeding behavior
- Host suitability
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
- Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology