Tomato yellow leaf curl virus infection of tomato does not affect the performance of the Q and ZHJ2 biotypes of the viral vector Bemisia tabaci

To better understand the etiology of begomovirus epidemics in regions under invasion we need to know how indigenous and invasive whitefly vectors respond to virus infection. We investigated both direct and indirect effects of infection with Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) on the performance of the invasive Q biotype and the indigenous Asian ZHJ2 biotype of whitefly Bemisia tabaci. The Q biotype performed better than the ZHJ2 biotype on either uninfected or virus-infected tomato plants. However, virus-infection of host plants did not, or only marginally affected, the performance of either biotype of whiteflies in terms of fecundity, longevity, survival, development and population increase. Likewise, association of the vectors with TYLCV did not affect fecundity and longevity of the Q or ZHJ2 biotypes on cotton, a non-host of TYLCV. These results indicate that the alien Q biotype whitefly, but not the indigenous ZHJ2 biotype, is likely to become the major vector of TYLCV in the field and facilitate virus epidemics.