Viruliferous Whiteflies
Viruliferous Whiteflies - Related Videos
10:22
Transmitting Plant Viruses Using Whiteflies
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Cited by 41 •
2013
Improving our understanding of and our ability to manage many of the insect-transmitted plant viruses requires the use of the vector. Insect transmission of plant viruses is a tritrophic interaction, and as such requires the manipulation of insects, virus, and plant. Vectors must be reared in large numbers and manipulated in such a way as to insure high rates of transmission to test plants. The basics of rearing and manipulating the whitefly, Bemisa tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), a vector of...
07:28
Methods for the Extraction of Endosymbionts from the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci
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Cited by 4 •
2017
Here, we present a protocol to isolate endosymbionts from the whitefly Bemisia tabaci through dissection and filtration. After amplification, the DNA samples are suitable for subsequent sequencing and study of the mutualism between endosymbionts and whitefly.
06:25
Localization and Quantification of Begomoviruses in Whitefly Tissues by Immunofluorescence and Quantitative PCR
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Cited by 5 •
2020
We describe an immunofluorescence and quantitative PCR method for the localization and quantification of begomoviruses in insect tissues. The immunofluorescence protocol can be used to colocalize viral and vector proteins. The quantitative PCR protocol can be extended to quantify viruses in whole whitefly bodies and virus-infected plants.
09:23
Methodology for Developing Life Tables for Sessile Insects in the Field Using the Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, in Cotton As a Model System
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Cited by 14 •
2017
Life tables allow quantification of the sources and rates of mortality in insect populations and contribute to understanding, predicting and manipulating population dynamics in agroecosystems. Methods for conducting and analyzing cohort-based life tables in the field for an insect with sessile immature life stages are presented.
FAQs
Transmission depends on a sequence of tissue-to-tissue movements inside the insect. After a whitefly feeds on infected phloem sap, virus particles enter through the stylet, cross the gut, circulate in the hemolymph, and reach the salivary glands. This internal route enables release into a healthy plant during later feeding.
The feeding site and feeding apparatus both matter. Infected phloem sap supplies the virus particles, while the stylet provides the entry route during feeding. The virus must then pass through internal tissues and reach the salivary glands, because those glands connect the insect’s internal infection route with delivery into another plant.
Persistent transmission matters because it identifies a multistage pathway rather than a single feeding event. The virus must remain associated with the vector while crossing the gut, moving through hemolymph, and reaching salivary glands. Each stage offers a point at which researchers can examine transmission efficiency and factors that may influence disease spread.
Researchers can investigate how plant viruses move between infected and healthy crops, determine which factors influence transmission, and connect vector biology with the development of viral epidemics. This knowledge supports more focused study of the vector-virus relationship instead of treating crop disease as a plant-only process.
Vector management aims to reduce the whiteflies responsible for transmission, while resistant crops address susceptibility from the plant side. Targeted approaches seek to interrupt viral spread more specifically. Together, these strategies provide complementary ways to reduce the likelihood that feeding will initiate new infections and broader epidemics.
They provide a model for examining interactions among an insect vector, a plant virus, and a crop host. Following acquisition from phloem sap through internal tissues to later entry into another plant links movement within the insect with disease spread across crops, helping explain why vector biology is central to plant disease management.