Analysis of the Genome of the Sexually Transmitted Insect Virus Helicoverpa zea Nudivirus 2

Viruses

John P. Burand¹  Woojin Kim¹  Claudio L. Afonso²  Edan R. Tulman²  Gerald F. Kutish²  Zhiqiang Lu² 

[1] Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA;Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Greenport, NY 11944, USA;

关键词: nudivirus;    sterile insects;    baculovirus;    sexually transmitted virus;    virus genome;    juvenile hormone esterase;    HzNV-2;    HzNV-1;    corn earworm;    Helicoverpa zea;   

DOI  :  10.3390/v4010028

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The sexually transmitted insect virus Helicoverpa zea nudivirus 2 (HzNV-2) was determined to have a circular double-stranded DNA genome of 231,621 bp coding for an estimated 113 open reading frames (ORFs). HzNV-2 is most closely related to the nudiviruses, a sister group of the insect baculoviruses. Several putative ORFs that share homology with the baculovirus core genes were identified in the viral genome. However, HzNV-2 lacks several key genetic features of baculoviruses including the late transcriptional regulation factor, LEF-1 and the palindromic hrs, which serve as origins of replication. The HzNV-2 genome was found to code for three ORFs that had significant sequence homology to cellular genes which are not generally found in viral genomes. These included a presumed juvenile hormone esterase gene, a gene coding for a putative zinc-dependent matrix metalloprotease, and a major facilitator superfamily protein gene; all of which are believed to play a role in the cellular proliferation and the tissue hypertrophy observed in the malformation of reproductive organs observed in HzNV-2 infected corn earworm moths, Helicoverpa zea.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.