A Research on the Determination of Molecular Genetic Characteristics of Some Bemisia Tabaci (genn.) (hemiptera:aleyrodidae) Populations

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) is one of the most crucial agricultural pests in tropical and subtropical regions. The pest is a species complex which contain morphologically indistinguishable biotypes or genetic groups. The aim of the present study is to examine B. tabaci populations collected from Aydin, Antalya, Mersin, Adana and Hatay regions in 2004 and 2005. Prior to analysis, as the first step, the biotypes were determined by considering molecular differences among populations. In addition, the differences among populations were determined by means of biochemical analysis, namely, by conducting esterase enzyme analysis. Nucleotide variation in mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) showed that a total of 32 nucleotide variations were present in 617 basepair sequence of mtCOI. Dendogram constructed based on phylogenetic analysis indicated that B. tabaci populations consisted of B and Q biotypes. Furthermore, the findings revealed that there were no nucleotid differences within B and Q biotype populations. In terms of the spread of the biotypes, it is found that while B biotypes were settled in Dortyol and Harbiye regions in Hatay province, Q biotypes were found in Kirikhan and Hassa regions. Likewise, while B biotypes were found in Tarsus, Q biotypes were seen in Ceyhan and Havutlu in cukurova region (Mersin and Adana provinces). In Antalya province, Q biotype was found in Campus area, whereas B biotype was present in Gazipasa. On the other hand, it is found that all samples from Aydin province were biotype Q. Concerning the findings, it can be claimed that Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis results clearly distinguished the two genetic types.