Parasitoid polydnaviruses: evolution,pathology and applications |
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Authors: | Dawn Gundersen-Rindal Catherine Dupuy Elisabeth Huguet Jean-Michel Drezen |
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Institution: | 1. Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture , Beltsville , MD , USA;2. Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 7261, Université Francois Rabelais , Tours , France |
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Abstract: | One of the more unusual groups of insect pathogens consists of members of the family Polydnaviridae, insect DNA viruses that live in mutual symbioses with their associated parasitoid wasp (Hymentoptera) carriers until they are injected into specific lepidopteran hosts. Once inside this secondary host, polydnaviruses cause a wide variety of negative effects that ultimately ensure the survival of the parasitoid larvae. Because of their unusual life strategy and genetic features, it had been difficult to fully characterise polydnaviruses in terms of evolutionary history, replication cycle and functions in the host that might normally be well characterised for more conventional viruses. Recently, our understanding of polydnavirus evolutionary origins, gene content, genome organisation and functions in parasitism has greatly increased. Key findings are summarised in this review with emphasis on evolution of polydnavirus genes and genomes, their functional roles in insect pathology and their potential applications in insect biological control and biotechnology. |
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Keywords: | polydnavirus lepidopteran host pathology parasitism bracovirus ichnovirus |
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