Host Plant Affects Symbiont Abundance in Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).

ABSTRACT: Symbionts contribute nutrients that allow insects to feed on plants. The whitefly Bemisia tabaci Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) is a polyphagous pest that depends on symbionts to provide key nutrients that are deficient in the diet. Here, we established three whitefly populations on eggplants, cucumbers, and tomatoes and observed that they harbored the same symbiont taxa in different quantities. The amount of the primary symbiont, Portiera, decreased with increasing concentrations of host-plant essential amino acids (EAAs). Whitefly populations transferred to different plant species exhibited fluctuations in Portiera amounts in the first three or four generations; the amount of Portiera increased when whitefly populations were transferred to plant species with lower EAAs proportions. As

SUBMITTER: Liu YH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7469152 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature