A Nymphalid-Infecting Group I Alphabaculovirus Isolated from the Major Passion Fruit Caterpillar Pest <i>Dione juno juno</i> (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

oleh: Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Ethiane Rozo dos Santos, Luana Beló Trentin, Leonardo Assis da Silva, Fernando Lucas de Melo, Elliot Watanabe Kitajima, Daniel M. P. Ardisson-Araújo

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-07-01

Deskripsi

Baculoviruses are capable of infecting a wide diversity of insect pests. In the 1990s, the Dione juno nucleopolyhedrovirus (DijuNPV) was isolated from larvae of the major passionfruit defoliator pest <i>Dione juno juno</i> (Nymphalidae) and described at ultrastructural and pathological levels. In this study, the complete genome sequence of DijuNPV was determined and analyzed. The circular genome presents 122,075 bp with a G + C content of 50.9%. DijuNPV is the first alphabaculovirus completely sequenced that was isolated from a nymphalid host and may represent a divergent species. It appeared closely related to Orgyia pseudotsugata multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpMNPV) and other <i>Choristoneura</i>-isolated group I alphabaculoviruses. We annotated 153 open reading frames (ORFs), including a set of 38 core genes, 26 ORFs identified as present in lepidopteran baculoviruses, 17 ORFs unique in baculovirus, and several auxiliary genes (e.g., <i>bro</i>, <i>cathepsin</i>, <i>chitinase, iap-1, iap-2,</i> and <i>thymidylate kinase</i>). The <i>thymidylate kinase</i> (<i>tmk</i>) gene was present fused to a <i>dUTPase</i> (<i>dut</i>) gene in other baculovirus genomes. DijuNPV likely lost the <i>dut</i> portion together with the <i>iap-3</i> homolog. Overall, the genome sequencing of novel alphabaculoviruses enables a wide understanding of baculovirus evolution.