Genetic Networking of the Bemisia tabaci Species Complex Reveals Patterns of Biological Invasions
Author Information
Author(s): Paul De Barro, Muhammad Z. Ahmed
Primary Institution: CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Hypothesis
Can statistical parsimony network analytics effectively delineate species within the Bemisia tabaci complex and reveal patterns of their global invasions?
Conclusion
The study found that global invasions of Bemisia tabaci often involve only a small portion of the available genetic diversity.
Supporting Evidence
- The analysis revealed 28 networks plus 7 unconnected individual haplotypes.
- 24 of the networks corresponded to putative species identified in previous studies.
- One haplotype for MEAM1 and three for MED account for over 80% of GenBank records in invaded ranges.
Takeaway
Scientists studied a type of whitefly and found that only a few genetic types are responsible for most of the invasions around the world.
Methodology
The study used mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 sequences from 352 unique haplotypes to perform statistical parsimony network analysis.
Potential Biases
Sampling effort was uneven across home and invaded ranges, which may skew results.
Limitations
The reliance on a single gene (mtCOI) for species delimitation may not capture the full genetic diversity.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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