Project description:Begomoviruses, the largest, most damaging and emerging group of plant viruses in the world, infect hundreds of plant species and new virus species of the group are discovered each year. They are transmitted by species of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is one of the most devastating begomoviruses worldwide and causes major losses in tomato crops as well as in many more agriculturally important plant species. Different B. tabaci populations vary in their virus transmission abilities; the causes for these differences are attributed among others to genetic diversity of vector populations, as well as to differences in the bacterial symbiont flora of the insects. Here, we performed discovery proteomic analyses in nine whiteflies populations from both B (MEAM1) and Q (MED) species with different TYLCV transmission abilities. The results provide the first comprehensive list of candidate insect and bacterial symbiont (mainly Rickettsia) proteins associated with virus transmission. Efficient vector populations from two different B. tabaci species over-expressed or downregulated expression of proteins belonging to two different molecular pathways.
Project description:The study aims to identify and analyze the miRNAs in Bemisia tabaci that feed on Nicotiana tabacum cv. NC89 plants. This allows for the investigation of insect miRNAs that play important physiological roles in Bemisia tabaci. Additionally, it enables the analysis and identification of miRNAs that are transferred from Nicotiana tabacum to Bemisia tabaci. These data can further help us understand the role of miRNAs in the interaction between Bemisia tabaci and its host plants.