Data and code from: Wild sources for host plant resistance to Bemisia tabaci in watermelon: insights from behavioral and chemical analyses

Authors: MCKENZIE-REYNOLDS, PETRINA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); OWOLABI, ISIAKA - University Of Georgia; BISWAS, ANJU - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); Read, Quentin; BURKE, GAELEN - University Of Georgia; Levi, Amnon; Simmons, Alvin

Submitted to: Ag Data Commons
Publication Type: Database / Dataset
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2025
Publication Date: 6/9/2025
Citation: Mckenzie-Reynolds, P., Owolabi, I.A., Biswas, A., Read, Q.D., Burke, G.R., Levi, A., Simmons, A.M. 2025. Data and code from: Wild sources for host plant resistance to Bemisia tabaci in watermelon: insights from behavioral and chemical analyses. Ag Data Commons. 10:31.

Interpretive Summary: The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a major threat to watermelon. In this study, our goal was to evaluate whether there is natural resistance to the whitefly in the watermelon’s wild relative, the desert watermelon Citrullus colocynthis. This dataset contains all the raw and processed data and statistical software code to reproduce the analyses and graphics in the associated manuscript. We did oviposition assays to determine whether any desert watermelon genotypes deterred whiteflies from laying eggs on their leaves, Y-tube olfactometer assays to determine whether whiteflies were more or less attracted to the chemicals emitted by leaves of different desert melon genotypes, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis to identify what molecules might be associated with greater whitefly resistance in certain melon genotypes. We fit statistical models to the oviposition and Y-tube datasets and used the models to make predictions for each genotype and test hypotheses about differences between their means. Raw data are included alongside code notebooks and output of the notebooks with all figures and tables, as well as pre-fit model objects. This research has the potential to increase our understanding of the causes for differences in resistance between different melon genotypes as well as to promote sustainable watermelon production with reduced pesticide dependence.

Technical Abstract: Whitefly infestations, primarily caused by Bemisia tabaci, pose a significant threat to watermelon production, leading to severe yield losses and increased reliance on chemical pesticides. We did a study to evaluate the potential of the desert watermelon Citrullus colocynthis and other Citrullus species genotypes for resistance to B. tabaci using oviposition assays, vertical Y-tube olfactometer assays, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of plant volatiles. This dataset contains all the raw and processed data and statistical software code to reproduce the analyses and graphics in the associated manuscript. Our statistical analysis includes Bayesian generalized linear mixed models fit to the oviposition and Y-tube olfactometer datasets, with posterior distributions of the model parameters used to estimate means for each genotype and test hypotheses comparing them. In this dataset we have included CSV files of the raw data, R statistical software code contained in RMarkdown notebooks, HTML rendered output of the notebooks including all figures, tables, and textual description of the results, and pre-fit model objects so that the notebooks may be rendered without refitting the models. The findings in the accompanying manuscript provide critical insights into resistance mechanisms in C. colocynthis and advance sustainable watermelon production, reducing chemical pesticide dependence and enhancing economic returns for growers.