Transmission efficiency of Cotton leaf curl Multan virus by three cryptic species of Bemisia tabaci complex in cotton cultivars

: Cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV) is a serious and economically important viral disease agent in cotton and ornamental plants like Hibiscus in many regions of the world, especially in South Asia. CLCuMuV is transmitted exclusively by Bemisia tabaci cryptic species complex. This virus was recently recorded in southern China, presumably an invasion from South Asia. This study was performed to estimate the efficiency of three species of the B. tabaci whitefly complex (tentatively named as MEAM1, MED and Asia II 7, respectively) to transmit CLCuMuV and Cotton leaf curl multan virus betasatelite (CLCuMuB). Transmission assays and real-time quantitative PCR were conducted using three cultivars of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, including 112-2, Xinhai-21 and Zhongmian-40. The results indicated that Asia II 7 was able to transmit the virus to two of the cotton cultivars, i.e. 112-2 and Xinhai-21, with the highest transmission efficiencies of 40% and 30%, respectively, but was unable to transmit the virus to the cotton cultivar Zhongmian-40. MEAM1 and MED failed to transmit CLCuMuV and CLCuMuB to any of the three cotton cultivars. After the three cryptic species of whiteflies had fed on virus-infected cotton plants for 48 h, the relative quantity of CLCuMuV in Asia II 7 was detected to be significantly higher than that in both MEAM1 and MED (P < 0.05). These results indicate that among the three species of whiteflies Asia II 7 is likely the most efficient vector for CLCuMuV and CLCuMuB in Malvaceae crops in China. Our findings provide valuable information to the control of viral diseases caused by CLCuMuV in the field.