A nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) (Baculoviridae)-based gene expression system was improved by DNA recombination. The BmN cell line established from Bombyx mori and the Sf21 cell line established from Spodoptera frugiperda are non-permissive for Autographa californica multicapsid NPV (AcMNPV) and B. mori NPV (BmNPV) replication, respectively. After cotransfection of AcMNPV DNA and BamHI-digest...

Single-stranded (ss)DNA viruses are extremely widespread, infect diverse hosts from all three domains of life and include important pathogens. Most ssDNA viruses possess small genomes that replicate by the rolling-circle-like mechanism initiated by a distinct virus-encoded endonuclease. However, viruses of the family Bidnaviridae, instead of the endonuclease, encode a protein-primed type B DNA ...

Operophtera brumata nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpbuNPV) infects the larvae of the winter moth, Operophtera brumata. As part of an effort to explore the pesticidal potential of OpbuNPV, an isolate of this virus from Massachusetts (USA)-OpbuNPV-MA-was characterized by electron microscopy of OpbuNPV occlusion bodies (OBs) and by sequencing of the viral genome. The OBs of OpbuNPV-MA consisted of irregul...

Corals that naturally thrive under extreme conditions are gaining increasing attention due to their importance as living models to understand the impact of global warming on world corals. Here, we present the first metagenomic study of viral communities in corals thriving in a thermally variable water body in which the temperature fluctuates between 11 and 39°C in different seasons. The viral a...

Many blood-feeding arthropods are known vectors of viruses that are a source of unprecedented global health concern. Mosquitoes are an integral part of these arthropod vectors. Advancements in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics has expanded our knowledge on the richness of viruses harbored by arthropods. In the present study, we applied a metagenomic approach to determine the interco...

The article presents the results of bioassaying 39 samples of TM Biocontrol-1, a viral insecticide, from 10 different lots and various sizes of vacuum-sealed packages that were stored at -10 degrees C for 5-15 yr. This is the first study to present potency data for a registered virus product stored for this length of time. Laboratory bioassays in insects from the same colony from which the TM B...

Larvae of the Southern pine coneworm, Diorycha amateella (Hulst) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), were collected monthly during the growing seasons of 1996 and 1997 from loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., seed orchards in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, and examined for pathogenic microorganisms. One fungus, Beauueria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill, a granulosis virus (Baculoviridae: Euba...

There is increasing evidence that populations of microparasites vary genotypically at a variety of spatial scales, including within host individuals. Understanding this fine-scale structuring of microparasite populations requires descriptions of the relative fitness of individual genotypes isolated from natural mixed infections. Here we examine whether differences between virus genotypes isolat...

Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), a prototype member of the Baculoviridae family, has gained increasing interest as a potential vector candidate for mammalian gene delivery applications. AcMNPV is known to enter both dividing and nondividing mammalian cell lines in vitro, but the mode and kinetics of entry as well as the intracellular transport of the virus in mamma...

Nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPV: Gammabaculovirus: Baculoviridae) of diprionid sawflies (Diprionidae: Hymenoptera) are highly host specific and only infect the midgut epithelium. While still alive, infected sawfly larvae excrete NPV-laden diarrhea that contaminates food sources. The diarrhea can then be consumed by conspecific larvae, resulting in rapid horizontal transmission of the virus. To bett...