First gene transfer from a plant to an insect identified

Tobacco whitefly uses a stolen gene to avoid the host's defenses. The discovery is highly relevant to pest control.

The first known case of a natural gene transfer from a plant to an insect has been identified by an international team of researchers. The insect is a whitefly and the discovery could pave the way for new pest control strategies, according to a report published in the newspaper Nature.

Scientists have discovered that Bemisia tabaci appropriated a gene from a host plant millions of years ago, reveals a article published in Cell. The gene allows this pest to neutralize a toxin produced by certain plants to defend themselves against insects.

This aleirodid, also known as the bean or sweet potato whitefly, although it attacks many other vegetable crops, is a worldwide pest and one of the most destructive we know of. A Bemisia tabaci ingests the sugary sap of hundreds of types of plants, excreting a sweet, sticky substance, honeydew, which then serves as a medium for fungi to grow. Whiteflies are also vectors for more than a hundred viruses that are pathogenic to plants.

“It's a remarkable example of how the study of evolution can underpin new approaches to applications such as crop protection,” says Andrew Gloss, who studies plant-pest interactions at the University of Chicago in the USA. The study suggests that inhibiting the gene identified could make this whitefly vulnerable to the toxin, opening up a new way of combating this pest.