PHYTOPARASITICA, cilt.42, sa.3, ss.413-419, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Secondary endosymbionts of Turkish Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) populations were determined by PCR-based DNA analysis. Experiments were conducted with B. tabaci samples collected from various host plants between 2007 and 2012. Four secondary endosymbionts, namely, Rickettsia, Hamiltonella, Arsenophonus and Wolbachia, were detected from two different B. tabaci species (B and Q). While Arsenophonus and Wolbachia were determined only from the Q, Hamiltonella was found only on the B. Rickettsia was determined on both B and Q. Forty percent of individuals were infected with Arsenophonus, followed by Hamiltonella (32.4 %), and Wolbachia (8 %). Infection rate of Rickettsia was found to be higher on B (29.7 %) than on Q (21.6 %). This study is the first report of endosymbionts of B. tabaci populations collected from Turkey, and studies should be continued to cover larger areas, more host plants and B. tabaci populations.