Characterization of a novel member of genus Iflavirus in Helicoverpa armigera.
The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is one of the most important agricultural pests of many economic crops worldwide. Herein, we found a novel single-strand RNA virus by RNA-Seq and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method in H. armigera named Helicoverpa armigera iflavirus (HaIV), which possessed a genome with 10,017 nucleotides in length and contained a single large open reading frame (ORF) encoding a putative polyprotein of 3021 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 344.16kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point (pI) of 6.45. The deduced amino acid sequence showed highest similarity (61.0%) with the protein of Lymantria dispar Iflavirus 1. Phylogenetic analysis with putative RdRp amino acid sequences indicated that the virus clustered with members of the genus Iflavirus. The virus was mainly distributed in the fat body of its host and was found to be capable of both horizontal and vertical transmission. The efficiency of perorally horizontal transmission was dose dependent (100% infection rate with a viral dose of 108copies/μl) while vertical transmission efficiency was found to be relatively low (<28.57%). These results suggest that we have found a novel member of genus Iflavirus in H. armigera.
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, PR China.
He
H
Yuan
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, PR China; Tobacco Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, PR China.
Pengjun
P
Xu
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, PR China.
Xianming
X
Yang
Crop and Environment Sciences, Harper Adams University, Edgmond, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK.
Robert I
RI
Graham
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
Kenneth
K
Wilson
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, PR China. Electronic address: kmwu@ippcaas.cn.
Kongming
K
Wu
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005814:Genes, Viral; D009036:Moths / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000502:physiology*
Helicoverpa armigera; Horizontal transmission; Iflavirus; RNA virus; Tissue distribution; Vertical transmission