Molecular Characterization of some Whitefly Species from India

Abstract

Whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) are polyphagous pests causing economic losses in many crops. Many species of whiteflies exhibit intraspecific variations/ species complexes and it is important to analyse their genetic variations using molecular markers. This study analyses the partial mitochondrial COI (mtCO1) gene (658bp), sequenced from some whiteflies collected through surveys across 12 locations in India. The comparison of these sequences in the NCBI database, and their BLAST and ORF analyses were accomplished. These revealed the presence of a new sequence from a sample collected on custard apple (Annona reticulata) identified as Pealius nagerkoilensis. The other six groups were observed to belong to Aleurodicus rugioperculatus, Aleurocanthus sp., Aleuroclava sp., Bemisia tabaci, an Aleyrodidae sp., and Aleurodicus dispersus. Thus, the present study determines the genetic diversity in some whiteflies facilitating the identification of species and their complexes