Vol. 12, Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
Kopparthi Amrutha Valli Sindhura, Bharath M, Pooja PS, Shadab M Khatib, KM Srinivas Reddy and CN Lakshminarayana Reddy

Abstract:
The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) has become a significant threat to vegetable cultivation, causing serious issues in Indian agriculture. During April 2023, a sample of the B. tabaci adults was collected from cauliflower fields in Seethi village, located in the Kolar district, Karnataka. The genomic DNA of a single adult whitefly was extracted using the Chelex 100 method. To identify the cryptic species of the whitefly, the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (mtCOI) gene was amplified using species-specific primers. PCR amplification generated an expected mtCOI gene fragment of 800 bp. Subsequently, the PCR product was subjected to Sanger sequencing. The mtCOI nucleotide sequence of the whitefly sample showed 98-100 percent identity with sequences belonging to MEAMI whitefly cryptic species known to infect different crops worldwide. The sequence demarcation graph and phylogenetic analysis provided substantial evidence for the present findings.