Genetic relationships among biotypes of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera : Aleyrodidae) based on AFLP analysis

Genetic similarities between 13 samples belonging to nine reference biotype s and two field populations of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), one field popula tion of B. medinae Gomez-Menor and another of B. afer Priesner & Hosny, wer e evaluated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Th e results indicate that B. tabaci biotypes can be grouped together with a m inimum similarity coefficient of 0.32 and separated from the two other spec ies with a similarity coefficient of 0.07. Bemisia tabaci biotypes were gro uped in four clusters which comprised: (i) Near East and Indian subcontinen t biotypes; (ii) B and Q biotypes plus a Nigerian population from cowpea; ( iii) New World A biotype; and (iv) S biotype and a Nigerian population from cassava. These results were consistent with a previous grouping of biotype s based on RAPD-PCR analysis. The AFLP assay allowed the scoring of a total of 354 polymorphic bands in two reaction events with the use of two primer combinations.