Browsing by Author "Seal, Susan"

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    African ancestry of New World, Bemisia tabaci-whitefly species
    (Scientific reports, 2018) Mugerwa, Habibu; Seal, Susan; Wang, Hua-Ling; Patel, Mitulkumar V.; Kabaalu, Richard; Omongo, Christopher A.; Alicai, Titus; Tairo, Fred; Ndunguru, Joseph; Sseruwagi, Peter; Colvin, John
    Bemisia tabaci whitefly species are some of the world’s most devastating agricultural pests and plant-virus disease vectors. Elucidation of the phylogenetic relationships in the group is the basis for understanding their evolution, biogeography, gene-functions and development of novel control technologies. We report here the discovery of five new Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) B. tabaci putative species, using the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene: SSA9, SSA10, SSA11, SSA12 and SSA13. Two of them, SSA10 and SSA11 clustered with the New World species and shared 84.8‒86.5% sequence identities. SSA10 and SSA11 provide new evidence for a close evolutionary link between the Old and New World species. Re-analysis of the evolutionary history of B. tabaci species group indicates that the new African species (SSA10 and SSA11) diverged from the New World clade c. 25 million years ago. The new putative species enable us to: (i) re-evaluate current models of B. tabaci evolution, (ii) recognise increased diversity within this cryptic species group and (iii) re-estimate divergence dates in evolutionary time.
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    Review and guide to a future naming system of African Bemisia tabaci species
    (Systematic Entomology, 2018) Boykin, Laura M .; Kinene, Tonny; Wainaina, James M.; Derssavill, A. N.; Seal, Susan; Mugerwa, Habibu; Macfadyen, Sarina; Tek Tay, Wee; De Barro, Paul; Kubatko, Laura; Alicai, Titus; Omongo, Christopher A .; Tairo, Fred; Ndunguru, Joseph; Sseruwagi, Peter
    Once a pest has been correctly identified, its genus and species name can provide a link to valuable indications of its ecology, biology and life history that are critical for developing control strategies. Importantly, this link should exist even when the pest was known under other names (synonyms), or was not considered a pest at all (National Research Council, 1968). Many examples have shown that incorrect identification or classification of a pest has led to fruitless searches for biocontrol agents in the native range, incorrect assignments as disease vectors, and costly, yet misdirected, suppression measures. As new approaches for delimiting species based on molecular information become more widely used, the process of correctly identifying a species has become even more complex. Fortunately, we have good systematic frameworks and nomenclatural systems that are able to cope with these challenges. Here we review challenges associated with classification and identificationwithin the Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) species complex.