title: Evidence of recent interspecies horizontal gene transfer regarding nucleopolyhedrovirus infection of Spodoptera frugiperda.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Baculoviruses are insect-associated viruses carrying large, circular double-stranded-DNA genomes with significant biotechnological applications such as biological pest control, recombinant protein production, gene delivery in mammals and as a model of DNA genome evolution. These pathogens infect insects from the orders Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, and have high species diversity which is expressed in their diverse biological properties including morphology, virulence or pathogenicity. Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), the fall armyworm, represents a significant pest for agriculture in America; it is a host for baculoviruses such as the Spodoptera frugiperda multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV) (Colombia strain, genotype A) having been classified as a Group II alphabaculovirus making it a very attractive target for bioinsecticidal use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genome analysis by pyrosequencing revealed that SfMNPV ColA has 145 ORFs, 2 of which were not present in the other sequenced genotypes of the virus (SfMNPV-NicB, SfMNPV-NicG, SfMNPV-19 and SfMNPV-3AP2). An in-depth bioinformatics study showed that ORF023 and ORF024 were acquired by a recent homologous recombination process between Spodoptera frugiperda and Spodoptera litura (the Oriental leafworm moth) nucleopolyhedroviruses. Auxiliary genes are numerous in the affected locus which has a homologous region (hr3), a repetitive sequence associated with genome replication which became lost in SfColA along with 1 ORF. Besides, the mRNAs associated with two acquired genes appeared in the virus' life-cycle during the larval stage. Predictive studies concerning the theoretical proteins identified that ORF023 protein would be a phosphatase involved in DNA repair and that the ORF024 protein would be a membrane polypeptide associated with cell transport.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SfColA genome was thus revealed to be a natural recombinant virus showing evidence of recent horizontal gene transfer between different baculovirus species occurring in nature. This feature could be the cause of its high insecticidal power and therefore SfColA becomes a great candidate for bioinsecticide formulations.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Tibaitatá, Corpoica (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria), Km 14 Vía Mosquera, Cundinamarca, Colombia. gbarrera@corpoica.org.co.
authors.forename: Gloria Patricia
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Barrera
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular - Área Virosis de Insectos (LIGBCM-AVI), Dto. Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Roque Sáenz Peña 352, B1876BXD, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina. mbelaich@unq.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Mariano Nicolás
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Belaich
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular e Inmunología, Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Avenida 50 N° 26-20, Bogotá, Colombia. manuel.patarroyo@urosario.edu.co.|Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Calle 12C N° 6-25, Bogotá, Colombia. manuel.patarroyo@urosario.edu.co.
authors.forename: Manuel Alfonso
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Patarroyo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Tibaitatá, Corpoica (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria), Km 14 Vía Mosquera, Cundinamarca, Colombia. lvillamizar@corpoica.org.co.
authors.forename: Laura Fernanda
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Villamizar
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular - Área Virosis de Insectos (LIGBCM-AVI), Dto. Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Roque Sáenz Peña 352, B1876BXD, Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina. pdg@unq.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Pablo Daniel
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Ghiringhelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D023061:Gene Order; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005814:Genes, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D023281:Genomics; D007300:Insect Control; D017924:Nucleopolyhedroviruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology*