title: Discovery and effects of Texas Solenopsis invicta virus [SINV-1 (TX5)] on red imported fire ant populations.
abstract: Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), the red imported fire ant is native to South America but has invaded areas of the southeastern US, and parts of Southern California. The S. invicta virus-1 (SINV-1) is a positive sense, single-stranded RNA picorna-like virus that only affects Solenopsis species. The virus can infect all caste members and developmental stages. Infection of SINV-1 can result in colony collapse in less than 3 months under laboratory conditions. This study screened S. invicta colonies from Texas for the presence of SINV through Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). Positive samples were genetically characterized by direct sequencing and compared with known picorna-like viruses. SINV-1 was detected in ant colonies from Smith and Henderson TX counties. Amino acid sequence comparison of SINV-1 (TX5) ORF2 region showed homologies of 96% with SINV-1, 97% with SINV-1A, 17.6% with SINV-2, and 20.7% with SINV-3. In addition, SINV-1 (TX5) was compared to 18 other Dicistroviridae viruses. Ant-infecting viruses may provide new approaches to suppressing these important economic pests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd. Tyler, TX, USA. dmtufts11@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Danielle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Tufts
authors.forename: Wayne B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bextine
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000821:virology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012327:RNA Virus Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral