Determination of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) biotyes on different host plants in greenhouses in Mersin province by using molecular methods

In this study, biotypes and their population dynamics of B. tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) populations collected from the greenhouses of Akdeniz, Aydıncık, Bozyazı, Erdemli, Gülnar, Silifke and Tarsus in Mersin province, were determined by using PCR-RFLP molecular identification methods. To this aim, adults of the whitefly were collected by using a hand-held aspirator from the greenhouses during spring and autumn of 2016 and 2017 growing seasons. In order to determine biotypes status in the off-season, samples were also collected from field crops around greenhouses during summer 2016. A total of 219 and 195 females were analyzed from greenhouse collected during spring and autumn seasons while 129 females were from open fields, respectively. According to analysis, biotypes status of B. tabaci did not varied depending on the location and the seasons. Overall, B and Q biotypes (with both its subgoups Q1 and Q2) were found in this study. The abundance rates of B biotype were found to be very high in all locations, showing values of 97.7 and 99.5 during spring and autumn seasons, respectively. Similar to greenhouse results, population rate of B biotype was determined very high (99.2%) from open field collected whiteflies (off-season). The highest Q biotype rate (12.8%) was determined in Erdemli district in spring season. In conclusion, the results of this study show that B biotype is the dominant species in the greenhouses of Mersin, Turkey in both spring and autumn seasons.