Comparative study on the susceptibility of cutworms (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to Agrotis segetum nucleopolyhedrovirus and Agrotis ipsilon nucleopolyhedrovirus.
The common cutworm (Agrotis segetum) and the black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon) are serious soil pests of many vegetable and field crops all over the world. We have demonstrated the cross-infectivity of two baculoviruses, A. segetum nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgseNPV) and A. ipsilon nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgipNPV) for these two insect pests. The susceptibility of A. segetum to AgipNPV was confirmed by DNA restriction endonuclease analyses of DNA isolated from virus harvested from infected A. segetum larvae. For an initial comparison of both viruses, partial polyhedrin sequences were amplified by PCR, cloned, and sequenced. Both viruses shared a very similar polyhedrin gene sequence resulting in only three amino acid substitutions. Phylogenetic analyses clearly demonstrated that both viruses belong to NPV group II and are most closely related to a clade consisting of Spodoptera exigua NPV, Spodoptera frugiperda NPV, and Spodoptera littoralis NPV. Since AgipNPV shows high virulence for both cutworm species, it appears to be a suitable candidate as a single biological control agent of A. segetum and A. ipsilon.
El-Salamouny
Said
S
State Education and Research Center for Agriculture, Viticulture and Horticulture (SLFA), Biotechnological Crop Protection, Breitenweg 71, 67435 Neustadt/Weinstrasse, Germany.
Lange
Martin
M
Jutzi
Manfred
M
Huber
Jürg
J
Jehle
Johannes A
JA
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017924:Nucleopolyhedroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D000077183:Occlusion Body Matrix Proteins; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins
D004279:DNA, Viral; D000077183:Occlusion Body Matrix Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; C009829:polyhedrin protein, Nucleopolyhedrovirus; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes