New invasion of Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean species in Brazil associated to ornamental plants

Abstract

In Brazil, the first major invasion event of Bemisia tabaci was that of Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) species, formerly termed as B biotype, which commenced in the 1990s mainly by ornamental plants in São Paulo State. More than two decades after this invasion, the presence of the Mediterranean (MED) species of B. tabaci, formerly Q biotype, was reported in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost State of Brazil, and now in São Paulo and Paraná States, in southeastern Brazil. Specimens of whiteflies collected from commercial begonia, hydrangea, petunia and poinsettia greenhouses in São Paulo, and also from begonias and poinsettias collected in flower shops in Paraná, were all identified as belonging to MED species. Furthermore, the secondary endosymbionts Arsenophonus, Hamiltonella and Rickettsia of MED from São Paulo and Paraná were detected by PCR and their presence confirmed by sequencing and FISH analysis, and those results differed from MED detected in Rio Grande do Sul that harbored only Hamiltonella and Cardinium. Our results suggest a new MED invasion into Brazil and is associated with ornamental plants. The two MED populations are genetically different and suggest that they are separate invasions.

Multiple incursion pathways forHelicoverpa armigerain Brazil show its genetic diversity spreading in a connected world

“…Taken as a whole, these findings provided evidence to support multiple independent introductions of H. armigera into the South American continent over the effect of stochastic lineage sorting. Our finding is not without precedent, with the globally invasive hemipteran whitefly Bemisia tabaci MED species (i.e., the real B. tabaci [59]) also being shown to have been independently introduced into this southern region of South America [60,61] in addition to an earlier introduction elsewhere in Brazil [62].…”

Effects of cowpea mild mottle virus on soybean cultivars in Brazil

“…Bemisia tabaci is widely spread in Brazil, and the Middle East Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1, known as B biotype) is the prevalent species on major crops across the country ( Moraes et al, 2018 ). The species Mediterranean (MED, also known as biotype Q), which was firstly reported in the South region of our country ( Fonseca Barbosa et al, 2015 ) was also detected in different states of Brazil associated with ornamental plants, and more rencently, MED was found in greenhouses and open field in the Southeastern of Brazil ( Moraes et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Bello et al, 2020 ).…”

Assessing whitefly diversity to infer about begomovirus dynamics in cassava in Brazil

“…Although whitefly diversity in Brazil has been surveyed extensively in recent years (49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54), no study has been carried out specifically to explore the composition of whitefly communities colonizing cassava. Those studies carried out in other crops demonstrated that B. tabaci MEAM1 is the predominant species across Brazil in crops such as common bean, cotton, pepper, tomato and soybean.…”

“…Those studies carried out in other crops demonstrated that B. tabaci MEAM1 is the predominant species across Brazil in crops such as common bean, cotton, pepper, tomato and soybean. Furthermore, B. tabaci MED, which was recently introduced in Brazil, has quickly spread and currently is present in five states from the South and Southeast regions (52)(53)(54). A small number of whitefly samples from cassava were analyzed in those studies, with B. tuberculata and Tetraleurodes acaciae prevalent and detected exclusively in cassava (51,54).…”