Project description:The study aims to identify and analyze the miRNAs in Bemisia tabaci that feed on Nicotiana tabacum cv. NC89 plants. This allows for the investigation of insect miRNAs that play important physiological roles in Bemisia tabaci. Additionally, it enables the analysis and identification of miRNAs that are transferred from Nicotiana tabacum to Bemisia tabaci. These data can further help us understand the role of miRNAs in the interaction between Bemisia tabaci and its host plants.
Project description:The phylogenetic relationship between the whitefly Bemisia afer (Priesner & Hosny) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from China and other populations among the world were analyzed based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) gene. Phylogenetic analysis of mtCOI sequences and those of reference B. afer sequences showed that the populations of the species could be separated into 5 clades (I-V). There were at least two clades of the species from China (IV and V). These data suggested that B. afer might be a species complex. The Chinese B. afer populations were most divergent with B. afer from the United Kingdom and African countries. The distance between the Chinese B. afer (IV and V) and clades I, II, and III is more than 32%, while the distance among clades I, II, III is lower than 7.7%. A new set of primers specific to B. afer was designed to amplify a region of approximately 400 bp to discriminate B. afer from other Bemisia species in China based on mtCOI sequences.