title: New record of nucleopolyhedroviruses in tea looper caterpillars in India.
abstract: Tea production in North-East India hit a record loss due to the widespread severe outbreak of a mixed brood of three species of looper caterpillar pests of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera) in 2008-2010. In addition to Buzura suppressaria, two newly recorded geometrids, viz., Hyposidra infixaria and Hyposidra talaca have caused widespread severe damage in recent years. In the present study we report the nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPV) isolated from the tea looper caterpillar from North-East India. We identified and characterized the NPV by cloning and sequencing a partial segment of polyhedrin gene of virus infected larvae of B. suppressaria, H. talaca and H. infixaria. A comparison of deduced amino acids of polyhedrin gene among H. talaca, H. infixaria and B. suppressaria showed that same strain was found to infect all the three loopers in India, which show high sequence identity with B. suppressaria Chinese isolates. Based on the polyhedrin sequence homology, it is predicted that a variant of B. suppressaria Chinese isolate of NPV found to infect H. talaca, H. infixaria and B. suppressaria in India.
authors: Department of Entomology, Tea Research Association, Tocklai Experimental Station, Jorhat 785 008, Assam, India. binuantony1@yahoo.co.in
authors: Binu
authors: B
authors: Antony
authors: Palatty Allesh
authors: PA
authors: Sinu
authors: Sudripta
authors: S
authors: Das
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D007194:India; D007814:Larva / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000821:virology*; D017924:Nucleopolyhedroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000077183:Occlusion Body Matrix Proteins; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D000077183:Occlusion Body Matrix Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; C009829:polyhedrin protein, Nucleopolyhedrovirus