Morin, S., Dept. of Field Crops and Genetics, Otto Warburg Ctr. Biotech. in Agric., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
Ghanim, M., Dept. of Field Crops and Genetics, Otto Warburg Ctr. Biotech. in Agric., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
Zeidan, M., Dept. of Field Crops and Genetics, Otto Warburg Ctr. Biotech. in Agric., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
Czosnek, H., Dept. of Field Crops and Genetics, Otto Warburg Ctr. Biotech. in Agric., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
Verbeek, M., Department of Virology, DLO Res. Inst. Plant Protect. I., 6700, GW Wageningen, Netherlands
Van Den Heuvel, J.F.J.M., Department of Virology, DLO Res. Inst. Plant Protect. I., 6700, GW Wageningen, Netherlands

Evidence for the involvement of a Bemisia tabaci GroEL homologue in the transmission of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (TYLCV) is presented. A ~63-kDa protein was identified in B. tabaci whole-body extracts using an antiserum raised against aphid Buchnera GroEL. The GroEL homologue was immunolocalized to a coccoid-shaped whitefly endosymbiont. The 30 N-terminal amino acids of the whitefly GroEL homologue showed 80% homology with that from different aphid species and GroEL from Escherichia coil. Purified GroEL from B. tabaci exhibited ultrastructural similarities to that of the endosymbiont from aphids and E. coli. In vitro ligand assays showed that tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) particles displayed a specific affinity for the B. tabaci 63-kDa GroEL homologue. Feeding whiteflies anti-Buchnera GroEL antiserum before the acquisition of virions reduced TYLCV transmission to tomato test plants by >80%. In the haemolymph of these whiteflies, TYLCV DNA was reduced to amounts below the threshold of detection by Southern blot hybridization. Active antibodies were recovered from the insect haemolymph suggesting that by complexing the GoEL homologue, the antibody disturbed interaction with TYLCV, leading to degradation of the virus. We propose that GroEL of B. tabaci protects the virus from destruction during its passage through the haemolymph.