Comparative genomic analysis of West African cassava Bemisia tabaci species. Comparing and contrasting east and central African SSA2 Nigeria and SSA3 Nigeria evolution.

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a hemipteran insect with a world wide distribution and represents one of the worlds most important and prevalent pest species. Different B. tabaci sub species contribute to a multitude of different crop failures via the spread of a range of botanical viruses. Whitefly are reported to be the cause of crop failures in nine eastern and central african countries, and is one of the major contributing factors of hunger and recurrent famines in these regions. This study represents the first genomic investigation of a Whitefly species from a sub Saharan region in which we describe the genome of the SSA1-Uganda subspecies population. SSA1 Sub Saharan African Cassava whitefly are known for their the unusual phenotype of massive populations of whitefly swarming and descending on host plant crops, also more commonly referred to as 'super abundance'. The superabundance phenotype is only evident in some populations of SSA whitefly while not in others, for instance populations of SSA1 from Nigeria do not exhibit the phenotype. This study's main aim is to describe for the first time the B. tabaci SSA1 genome and its genetic architecture, which will be crucial for understanding the biological mechanisms that allow it to be such a pervasive pest.