title: Relative amount of symbionts in Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) Q changes with host plant and establishing the method of analyzing free amino acid in B. tabaci.
abstract: The impact of symbionts on their insect hosts depends on their infection density. In the current study, we investigated the effects of host plants (cucumber, cabbage, and cotton) on the relative amount of symbionts Portiera and Hamiltonella in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) Q. The relative amounts of symbionts in 3 host plant B. tabaci Q populations with the same genetic background were evaluated by quantitative PCR. The whiteflies of cabbage population harbored more Portiera than those of cucumber and cotton populations, and the relative amount of Portiera did not differ statistically between cotton and cucumber populations. The whiteflies of cucumber and cabbage populations harbored more Hamiltonella than that of cotton population, and the relative amount of Hamiltonella did not differ statistically between cabbage and cucumber populations, indicated that the relative amount of symbionts was significantly affected by host plant. In addition, the method of analyzing the composition of free amino acid in B. tabaci was established. Twenty-eight amino acids were detected in the B. tabaci Q population, the non-essential amino acids, such as glutamate, glutamine, alanine, proline and the essential amino acid arginine were the dominant amino acids in B. tabaci Q.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection; Institute of Vegetables and Flowers; Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huipeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Xiaoguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Baiming
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Shaoli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qingjun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Baoyun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Youjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Bemisia tabaci; free amino acid; host plant; symbiont