The midgut pH of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae was significantly lower when larvae were fed acidic foliage. At 30 min after the start of a feeding bout, larvae feeding on bigtooth aspen (foliage pH = 6.04) had average midgut pH levels of 10.16, while larvae feeding on red oak foliage (foliage pH = 3.84) had average midgut pH levels of 9.36. Midgut pH was also significantly reduced when l...

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is a typical species of Baculoviridae. The complete genome sequence of a BmNPV strain with cubic occlusion bodies is reported here. The genome of this strain consists of 127,465 nucleotides with a G+C content of 40.36% and is 97.3% and 97.5% identical to those of BmNPV strain T3 and Bombyx mandarina NPV S1, respectively. Despite the abnormal polyhedra it...

Some of the most spectacular interactions between hosts and parasites occur when parasites manipulate their hosts’ behaviour. Acanthocephalan worms that infect gammarid shrimps induce host behaviours that elevate predation vulnerability when they need to transmit to their final vertebrate host [1]. Ophiocordyceps fungi similarly increase transmission by forcing ants to clamp their jaws around l...

The ubiquitin-proteasome system plays a central role in the degradation of intracellular proteins and is often required for efficient virus infection. Homologues of ubiquitin are found in all group I nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs), but their roles in NPV infection are still unclear. This study found that the specific proteasome inhibitor MG-132 markedly reduced budded virus (BV) production and p...

Monoclonal antibodies were produced to polyhedrins from Orgyia pseudotsugata multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (OpMNPV) and single-capsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (OpSNPV). Although the polyhedrins are closely related, antibodies were selected which allowed differentiation between the two viruses. In an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, purified OpMNPV and OpSNPV polyhedrins co...

During plaque purification of Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus in S. littoralis Sl52 cell culture, a deletion mutant virus was isolated. Analysis of the biological properties of this mutant virus revealed an absence of per os infectivity of the occluded virus. Infectivity by injection of the non-occluded (budded) virus is not different between the wild-type and the deleted virus. Rest...

The genome of the Neodiprion sertifer nucleopolyhedrovirus (NeseNPV), which infects the European pine sawfly, N. sertifer (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), was sequenced and analyzed. The genome was 86,462 bp in size. The C+G content of 34% was lower than that of the majority of baculoviruses. A total of 90 methionine-initiated open reading frames (ORFs) with more than 50 amino acids and minimal over...

Occlusion-derived virions (ODVs) of the nucleopolyhedrovirus of Culex nigripalpus (CuniNPV) were purified by Ludox density gradient ultracentrifugation, and the proteins were separated by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteins were identified by using Edman sequencing, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, nano...