Abstract Candidatus portiera aleyrodidarum is an obligate primary endosymbiont harboured by whiteflies including the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius). A survey of C. portiere endosymbionts was conducted by using polymerase chain reaction with universal primers for 16SrDNA within Pakistani whitefly population collected from different cotton growing areas of the Punjab, further analysed by cloning of the PCR products, RFLP analysis. Finally sequences were obtained from commercial labs and phylogenetic analysis were done of all the detected C. portiera clones. This is the first report regarding the identification of C. protiera from the Pakistan. The C. portiera was detected almost in all the samples of whiteflies from 16 different locations of Punjab, Pakistan. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the primary endosymbionts, their host specificity and their diversity across the world
