title: Four amino acids of an insect densovirus capsid determine midgut tropism and virulence.
abstract: Densoviruses are insect parvoviruses that are orally infectious for Lepidoptera. To assess the mechanisms underlying their specificity and their virulence, we investigated the role of eight candidate residues in the densovirus capsid. We showed that the substitutions of four amino acids were associated with decreased virulence due to a decreased ability to cross the host midgut epithelium, without an effect on viral replication in other tissues.
authors.affiliation: Invivo AgroSolutions, Valbonne, France.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Multeau
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Froissart
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.forename: Morena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casartelli
authors.forename: Mylène
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogliastro
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017990:Densovirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000821:virology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000821:virology*; D056189:Viral Tropism; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins