Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), commonly known as whitefly or sweet potato whitefly, causes feeding-related injuries to plants, and transmits more than 200 different plant viruses, including Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV). Control of B. tabaci is therefore one of the key measures in the comprehensive prevention and control of ToCV outbreak in tomato fields. Many insects rely on the hydrolysis of trehalose, broken down by the enzyme trehalase, to power their flight and other life-sustaining activities. B. tabaci encodes just one trehalase, making it an attractive target. In this study, the mechanism underlying the involvement of trehalase in the transmission of ToCV by B. tabaci was investigated. Also, the effect of the trehalase inhibitor, validamycin, on ToCV transmission was assessed. Our results showed that trehalase activity was upregulated in B. tabaci fed on ToCV-infected tomato plants. Treating B. tabaci with validamycin decreased the trehalase activity, and significantly reduced its transmission of ToCV. Validamycin treatment also inhibited the flight and feeding ability of B. tabaci. These results indicate that proper function of trehalase is required by whitefly to transmit ToCV with high efficiency. These provides an important theoretical basis for targeting whitefly trehalase as one way to control ToCV transmission.

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)，俗称粉虱或甘薯粉虱，会对植物造成摄食相关伤害，并传播 200 多种不同的植物病毒，包括番茄萎黄病病毒(ToCV)。因此，控制烟粉虱是综合防控番茄田ToCV暴发的关键措施之一。许多昆虫依靠海藻糖的水解（被海藻糖酶分解）来为其飞行和其他维持生命的活动提供动力。B. 烟粉虱仅编码一种海藻糖酶，使其成为一个有吸引力的目标。在这项研究中，海藻糖酶参与烟粉虱传播 ToCV 的机制被调查。此外，还评估了海藻糖酶抑制剂有效霉素对 ToCV 传播的影响。我们的结果表明，在以 ToCV 感染的番茄植株为食的烟粉虱中，海藻糖酶活性上调。用有效霉素处理烟粉虱降低了海藻糖酶活性，并显着降低了其 ToCV 的传播。Validamycin 处理也抑制了烟粉虱的飞行和取食能力。这些结果表明，粉虱需要海藻糖酶的适当功能才能高效地传播 ToCV。这些为靶向粉虱海藻糖酶作为控制 ToCV 传播的一种方式提供了重要的理论基础。