Monday, 18 November 2002
D0155

This presentation is part of : Display Presentations, Section A. Systematics, Morphology, and Evolution

In vitro cultivation of Wolbachia in a Bemisia tabaci B biotype cell line

C.L. McKenzie1, Wayne B. Hunter1, Judith K. Brown2, Xiomara Sinisterra1, Tetsuhiko Sasaki3, and Robert G. Shatters1. (1) Horticultural Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 2001 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL, (2) University of Arizona, Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture, Forbes Building, Tucson, AZ, (3) University of Tokyo, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Wolbachia and a complement of eubacterial endosymbionts were cultivated in vitro in a continuous whitefly cell line. Endosymbiont bactaria identification was verified using diagnostic PCR, DNA sequencing, Western Blot analysis and real time RT-PCR. Molecular analysis of these endosymbionts and the associated reproductive alterations found in natural arthropod hosts should be facilitated by the development of an in vitro culture system and will aid in determining the influence of these organisms on insect biology and speciation.

Species 1: Homoptera Aleyrodidae Bemisia tabaci (sweetpotato whitefly)
Species 2: Homoptera Aleyrodidae Bemisia argentifolii (silverleaf whitefly)
Keywords: endosymbiont

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