Whitefly genetic technologies platform - tools and resources development

The tobacco whitefly, Bemisia tabaci is regarded as one of the world's most destructive and intractable crop pests. Capable of vectoring over a 100 different plant viruses and with a host range of approximately 1000 plant species, it is a major threat to agricultural production and global food security. The main strategy currently deployed to control this pest is the application of insecticides. However, concerns about the effect of insecticides on pollinators, and the ability of whitefly vectors to develop insecticide-resistance, means there is a growing need to deploy alternative strategies. The aim of this project is to develop robust genetic technologies for whitefly that will not only be advantageous in elucidating the mechanisms underpinning their interactions with the plant viruses they vector and how this may be manipulated, but will also pave the way for developing genetic-based control technologies such as gene-drives as an alternative to chemical-based vector management.