The presence of six cryptic species of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci complex in China as revealed by crossing experiments

Abstract

Recent phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) sequences of Bemisia tabaci worldwide indicates that the whitefly comprises at least 24 morphologically indistinguishable but genetically distinct cryptic species. While evidence of reproductive isolation has been reported for some of the putative species, more extensive crossing experiments are required to clarify the systematics of this species complex. In this study, we established laboratory cultures for six putative species of B. tabaci collected in China. We conducted 22 inter‐species crosses among the six putative species. The data and those reported previously were collated, and the combined dataset covered all the 30 possible inter‐species crosses among the six putative species. Intra‐species controls always produced female and male progeny and the proportions of females in the first generation (F1) ranged from 56% to 70%. However, in inter‐species crosses female progeny were rarely produced, and the few F1 females produced in four of the 30 inter‐species crosses were either sterile or significantly weaker in viability. These results demonstrate a pattern of complete reproductive isolation among the six putative species and show that they are six cryptic species in the B. tabaci complex.

Further insight into reproductive incompatibility between putative cryptic species of the Bemisia tabaci whitefly complex

“…() and conduct more crossing experiments among the putative species. Previously we have conducted detailed observations on the reproductive compatibility and mating behavior among six of the species (Wang et al ., , ; Sun et al ., ). In the current study, we designed experiments to examine reproductive compatibility among species with different levels of divergence in the mtCOI gene.…”

Global Analysis of the Transcriptional Response of Whitefly to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl China Virus Reveals the Relationship of Coevolved Adaptations

“…The most economically important insect vectors are restricted to insects of a few hemipteran families, such as aphids and whiteflies (27). The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a cryptic species complex composed of at least 24 morphologically indistinguishable species (16,17,71,78,79,84). In this species complex, the Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (herein called MEAM1) species, commonly referred to as the B "biotype," has risen to international prominence since the 1980s due to its global invasion (15,40,54).…”

A practical guide to identifying members of the Bemisia tabaci species complex: and other morphologically identical species

“…A critical point here is that validation of the dataset showed that not just one, but five separate delimitation metrics agreed on the presence of species level bounds (Boykin et al, 2012b). Beyond the molecular data, all mating compatibility studies have shown either complete or partial mating isolation, the latter leading to substantial declines in fitness of F1 and F2 (Elbaz et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2010Wang et al, , 2011Xu et al, 2010;Liu et al, 2011;Sun et al, 2011).…”