ABSTRACT
Whiteflies (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae) are plant sap-sucking insects that harbor prokaryotic primary endosymbionts (P-endosymbionts) within specialized cells located in their body cavity. Four-kilobase DNA fragments containing 16S-23S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were amplified from the P-endosymbiont of 24 whiteflies from 22 different species of 2 whitefly subfamilies. In addition, 3-kb DNA fragments containing mitochondrial
cytB
,
nd1
, and large-subunit rDNA (LrDNA) were amplified from 17 whitefly species. Comparisons of the P-endosymbiont (16S-23S rDNA) and host (
cytB
-
nd1
-LrDNA) phylogenetic trees indicated overall congruence consistent with a single infection of a whitefly ancestor with a bacterium and subsequent cospeciation (cocladogenesis) of the host and the P-endosymbiont. On the basis of both the P-endosymbiont and host trees, the whiteflies could be subdivided into at least five clusters. The major subdivision was between the subfamilies
Aleyrodinae
and
Aleurodicinae
. Unlike the P-endosymbionts of may other insects, the P-endosymbionts of whiteflies were related to
Pseudomonas
and possibly to the P-endosymbionts of psyllids. The lineage consisting of the P-endosymbionts of whiteflies is given the designation “
Candidatus
Portiera” gen. nov., with a single species, “
Candidatus
Portiera aleyrodidarum” sp. nov.