Transmission of a New Polerovirus Infecting Pepper by the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci

The high specificity of virus-vector interactions limits the possibility of a given virus changing vectors. Our report describes a new virus from a family of viruses strictly transmitted by aphids which is now transmitted by whiteflies ( Bemisia tabaci ) and not by aphids. This report presents the first description of polerovirus transmission by whiteflies. Whiteflies are highly resistant to insecticides and disperse over long distances, carrying virus inoculum. Thus, the report of such unusual polerovirus transmission by a supervector has extensive implications for the epidemiology of the virus disease, with ramifications concerning the international trade of agricultural commodities.