Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, Uttarakhand, 263601, India.
Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 24;13(1):11946. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37781-y.
The Greenhouse whitefly (GWF), Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is a destructive pest that affects protected cultivation worldwide. The Indian Himalayan region is particularly vulnerable to GWF introduction, invasion, and spread due to the expansion of protected cultivation and climate change. In this study, we collected 32 naturally occurring GWF populations, mainly from the Uttarakhand state in the Indian Himalayan region, to investigate the distribution pattern and genetic diversity of T. vaporariorum. Our sampling was representative of the region's vegetation diversity and geographical location, and we collected samples from multiple sites within each locality to account for local variations. The mtCOI gene was used to accurately detect and identify GWF and to sequence haplotypes prevalent in the Uttarakhand state. The maximum likelihood method used for phylogenetic studies revealed that all 32 whitefly samples in this study belonged to T. vaporariorum and were prevalent in all the collected localities. Our population genetic study using mtCOI showed variation within T. vaporariorum populations, with 20 distinct haplotypes present. Notably, haplotype 2 (H2) was the most dominant haplotype among the sampled populations. These results provide fundamental knowledge for understanding the geographical distribution and ecology of T. vaporariorum in the Uttarakhand state of the Indian Himalayan region. The discovery of geospatial and genetic diversity of GWF in the Himalayan region underscores the importance of pest alertness, research prioritization, and the development of sustainable management strategies to protect crops.
温室粉虱（GWF），烟粉虱（Trialeurodes vaporariorum）（半翅目：粉虱科），是一种破坏性害虫，影响全球保护种植。由于保护种植的扩大和气候变化，印度喜马拉雅地区特别容易受到 GWF 的引入、入侵和传播的影响。在这项研究中，我们收集了 32 个自然发生的 GWF 种群，主要来自印度喜马拉雅地区的北阿坎德邦，以调查烟粉虱的分布模式和遗传多样性。我们的采样代表了该地区的植被多样性和地理位置，并且在每个地点内从多个地点采集样本，以说明当地的变化。mtCOI 基因用于准确检测和识别 GWF，并对北阿坎德邦流行的单倍型进行测序。用于系统发育研究的最大似然法表明，本研究中的所有 32 个粉虱样本均属于烟粉虱，并且在所有采集的地点都很普遍。我们使用 mtCOI 进行的种群遗传研究表明，烟粉虱种群内存在变异，有 20 个不同的单倍型存在。值得注意的是，单倍型 2（H2）是采样种群中最主要的单倍型。这些结果为了解印度喜马拉雅地区北阿坎德邦烟粉虱的地理分布和生态学提供了基础知识。在喜马拉雅地区发现 GWF 的地理和遗传多样性，突显了对害虫警觉性、研究重点和可持续管理策略制定的重要性，以保护作物。
