Co-Authors:
Lapidot, M., Department of Vegetable Research, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization ARO, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Polston, J.E., Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States
Abstract:
The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), is one of the most devastating pests in modern agriculture today. The whitefly feeds on plants by inserting the stylets into the leaf and withdrawing sap from the phloem. Feeding by whiteflies causes extensive direct damage to crops through excessive sap removal, excretion of honeydew that promotes growth of sooty mold fungi, and by inducing systemic disorders such as leaf silvering in squash and irregular ripening in tomato. However, the most devastating damage induced by whiteflies is due to virus transmission. During feeding whiteflies acquire plant viruses that are in the phloem. After moving to and feeding on another plant, the whiteflies may transmit the acquired viruses. Despite the large number of whitefly species, only three, B. tabaci, Trialeurodes vaporariorum and T. abutiloneus are known as vectors of plant viruses. B. tabaci is the most important of these three and has been demonstrated to vector over 150 different viruses in the tropics and subtropics, most of which belong to the Begomovirus genus. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.