Low frequency of horizontal and vertical transmission of two begomoviruses through whiteflies exhibits little relevance to the vector infectivity

Transmissions of plant viruses between individuals of their vector insects through mating are rare events. Recently, three begomoviruses were found to be transmitted between males and females of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci through mating, and two viruses were shown to be transmitted transovarially to progeny. However, results between reports were not consistent. Here we examined the horizontal and vertical transmission of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) by the B and Q biotypes of B. tabaci, using virus isolates and whitefly colonies established recently in China. Both TYLCV DNA and TYLCCNV DNA were shown to be transmitted horizontally and vertically by each of the two biotypes of the whitefly, but frequency of transmission was usually low. In transovarial transmission, virus DNA was detected in eggs and nymphs but not in the adults of the first generation progeny, except in the combination of TYLCV and Q biotype whitefly where 2–3% of the offspring adults contained the virus DNA. We also showed that the first generation adults, which developed from eggs of viruliferous whiteflies, were not infective to plants. These results demonstrated that for the viruses and whiteflies tested here low frequency of horizontal and vertical transmission can be expected but these two modes of transmission are unlikely to have much epidemiological relevance in the field.