title: Silkworm plasmatocytes are more resistant than other hemocyte morphotypes to Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus infection.
abstract: Differences in the viral susceptibility of multiple insect hemocyte morphotypes have not been investigated to date. In this study, a Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) derivative possessing a Drosophila hsp70 promoter-driven green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was used to observe NPV tropism of B. mori larval hemocytes. The experiments clearly revealed that there were fewer GFP-positive plasmatocytes than those observed in other types of hemocytes, such as granulocytes, oenocytoids, and spherulocytes, when infected via the intrahemocoelic or oral route. Our results indicate that silkworm plasmatocytes are more resistant than other hemocyte morphotypes to BmNPV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan.
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kiuchi
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katsuma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000821:virology*; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000821:virology*; D017924:Nucleopolyhedroviruses / Q000472:pathogenicity*