Microbiome diversity and reproductive incompatibility induced by the prevalent endosymbiont Arsenophonus in two species of African cassava Bemisia tabaci whiteflies.

ABSTRACT: A minimum of 13 diverse whitefly species belonging to the Bemisia tabaci (B. tabaci) species complex are known to infest cassava crops in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), designated as SSA1-13. Of these, the SSA1 and SSA2 are the predominant species colonizing cassava crops in East Africa. The SSA species of B. tabaci harbor diverse bacterial endosymbionts, many of which are known to manipulate insect reproduction. One such symbiont, Arsenophonus, is known to drive its spread by inducing reproductive incompatibility in its insect host and are abundant in SSA species of B. tabaci. However, whether Arsenophonus affects the reproduction of SSA species is unknown. In this study, we investigated both the reproductive compatibility between Arsenophonus i

SUBMITTER: El Hamss H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8717322 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature