title: Analysis of the genome of the sexually transmitted insect virus Helicoverpa zea nudivirus 2.
abstract: The sexually transmitted insect virus Helicoverpa zea nudivirus 2 (HzNV-2) was determined to have a circular double-stranded DNA genome of 231,621 bp coding for an estimated 113 open reading frames (ORFs). HzNV-2 is most closely related to the nudiviruses, a sister group of the insect baculoviruses. Several putative ORFs that share homology with the baculovirus core genes were identified in the viral genome. However, HzNV-2 lacks several key genetic features of baculoviruses including the late transcriptional regulation factor, LEF-1 and the palindromic hrs, which serve as origins of replication. The HzNV-2 genome was found to code for three ORFs that had significant sequence homology to cellular genes which are not generally found in viral genomes. These included a presumed juvenile hormone esterase gene, a gene coding for a putative zinc-dependent matrix metalloprotease, and a major facilitator superfamily protein gene; all of which are believed to play a role in the cellular proliferation and the tissue hypertrophy observed in the malformation of reproductive organs observed in HzNV-2 infected corn earworm moths, Helicoverpa zea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. jburand@microbio.umass.edu
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Burand
authors.forename: Woojin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Claudio L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Afonso
authors.forename: Edan R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Tulman
authors.forename: Gerald F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Kutish
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Rock
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D007304:Insect Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000821:virology; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013045:Species Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins