title: Lymantria dispar iflavirus 1 (LdIV1), a new model to study iflaviral persistence in lepidopterans.
abstract: The cell line IPLB-LD-652Y, derived from the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.), is routinely used to study interactions between viruses and insect hosts. Here we report the full genome sequence and biological characteristics of a small RNA virus, designated Lymantria dispar iflavirus 1 (LdIV1), that was discovered to persistently infect IPLB-LD-652Y. LdIV1 belongs to the genus Iflavirus. LdIV1 formed icosahedral particles of approx. 30 nm in diameter and contained a 10, 044 nt polyadenylated, positive-sense RNA genome encoding a predicted polyprotein of 2980 aa. LdIV1 was induced by a viral suppressor of RNA silencing, suggesting that acute infection is restricted by RNA interference (RNAi). We detected LdIV1 in all tested tissues of gypsy-moth larvae and adults, but the virus was absent from other L. dispar-derived cell lines. We confirmed LdIV1 infectivity in two of these cell lines (IPLB-LD-652 and IPLB-LdFB). Our results provide a novel system to explore persistent infections in lepidopterans and a new model for the study of iflaviruses, a rapidly expanding group of viruses, many of which covertly infect their hosts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Jimena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrillo-Tripp
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.affiliation: Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Toth
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: W Allen
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Bryony C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Bonning
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D016679:Genome, Viral; D007814:Larva / Q000821:virology; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020815:Polyproteins / Q000235:genetics; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014771:Virion / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D020815:Polyproteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins