Baculovirus genetic diversity and population structure
2025
López Ferber, Miguel | Caballero Murillo, Primitivo | Williams, Trevor | Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación | Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura | Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
Baculoviruses can naturally regulate lepidopteran populations and are used as biological insecticides. The genetic diversity of these viruses affects their survival and efficacy in pest control. For nucleopolyhedroviruses, occlusion-derived virions and the occlusion body facilitate the transmission of groups of genomes, whereas this is not the case for granuloviruses. We review the evidence for baculovirus genetic diversity in the environment, in the host insect, and in occlusion bodies and virions. Coinfection allows defective genotypes to persist through complementation and results in the pseudotyping of virus progeny that can influence their transmissibility and insecticidal properties. Genetic diversity has marked implications for the development of pest resistance to virus insecticides. We conclude that future research is warranted on the physical segregation of genomes during virus replication and on the independent action of virions during infection. We also identify opportunities for studies on the transmission of genetic diversity and host resistance to viruses.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]This research was funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Government of Spain), grant numbers AGL2017-83498-C2-1-R, PID2020-117062RB-C21 and PID2023-152494OB-I00.
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