The whitefly genome-White paper: A proposal to sequence multiple genomes of Bemisia tabaci

Abstract

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius 1889), complex (Brown et al. 1995) can cause extensive damage to crop and ornamental plants. Damage can be biotype specific, including induction of physiological disorders due to feeding alone. More importantly, whitefly transmitted plant viruses cause diseases, which affect fiber, vegetable, and ornamental crops. Most whiteflies in general colonize woody species, while very few utilize herbaceous plants. In this respect, B. tabaci is unique in colonizing herbaceous plant species. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.