Functional Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes Acquired by Horizontal Gene Transfer from Plants in the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci.

Carbohydrate-active enzymes involved in the degradation of plant cell walls and/or the assimilation of plant carbohydrates for energy uptake are widely distributed in microorganisms. In contrast, they are less frequent in animals, although there are exceptions, including examples of carbohydrate-active enzymes acquired by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria or fungi in several of phytophagous arthropods and plant-parasitic nematodes. Although the whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a major agricultural pest, knowledge of horizontal gene transfer-acquired carbohydrate-active enzymes in this phloem-feeding insect of the Hemiptera order (subfamily Aleyrodinae) is still lacking.