Higher Ramie mosaic virus transmission efficiency by females than by males of Bemisia tabaci MED.

Begomoviruses can modify their transmission vector, Bemisia tabaci, to benefit their spread, although this may not always be the case. Here, the new begomovirus Ramie mosaic virus (RaMoV) and its vector B. tabaci MED, which is dominant in China and many regions of the world, were used as a model to examine direct and indirect interaction and virus transmission by B. tabaci MED of different sexes. No significant direct or indirect effects of RaMoV were observed in B. tabaci MED females, although RaMoV could shorten the life span of B. tabaci MED females by up to 4 days. A test of RaMoV transmission by different sexes of B. tabaci MED showed that there was higher virus transmission efficiency by females than males. Overall, RaMoV is transmitted by B. tabaci MED in a sex-dependent manner, and further research is needed to uncover the mechanism of the difference in RaMoV transmission by different sexes of B. tabaci.