Abstract: Begomoviruses (Geminiviridae) are a group of important plant viruses that affect the production of many crops such as tomato, tobacco and cotton, and they are transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci under natural conditions. The outbreak of begomoviruses in the field is shaped by many factors, among which their whitefly vectors are one of the most significant. Therefore, determining the role of whitefly in the transmission and spread of certain begomoviruses is the key to deciphering the nature of plant diseases caused by begomoviruses. In this article, we discussed the factors affecting the transmission of begomoviruses and the mechanisms underlying the adaptation of viruses to their insect vectors. Both begomoviruses and whiteflies are pests with a cosmopolitan distribution, and bioinformatics-based analysis indicates that both exhibit geography-related genetic variation. Transmission assays showed that begomoviruses tend to be transmitted with higher efficiency by the whitefly species sharing the same geographic origin than the ones whose origins are different from those of the viruses. Information provided here offers an important source of references for further research with regard to the transmission of begomoviruses by whiteflies.

Key words: Begomoviruses, Bemisia tabaci, virus transmission, genetic variation, adaptation, coevolution