• Abstract
• Full-Text PDF [1344 KB]
• Full-Text XML
• Article Versions Notes

• Article Statistics
• PubMed/Medline
• Google Scholar
• Order Reprints

• Cite this article
• Export to BibTeX
• Export to EndNote

• [+] on DOAJ
• Burand, J
• Kim, W
• Afonso, C
• Tulman, E
• Kutish, G
• Lu, Z
• Rock, D
• [+] on Google Scholar
• Burand, J
• Kim, W
• Afonso, C
• Tulman, E
• Kutish, G
• Lu, Z
• Rock, D
• [+] on PubMed
• Burand, J
• Kim, W
• Afonso, C
• Tulman, E
• Kutish, G
• Lu, Z
• Rock, D

•  CiteULike
•  Facebook
•  Mendeley
•  Twitter

This article is

• freely available
• re-usable

Viruses 2012, 4(1), 28-61; doi:10.3390/v4010028

Article

Analysis of the Genome of the Sexually Transmitted Insect Virus Helicoverpa zea Nudivirus 2

John P. Burand ^1,†,* , Woojin Kim ^1,† , Claudio L. Afonso ² , Edan R. Tulman ² , Gerald F. Kutish ² , Zhiqiang Lu ²  and Daniel L. Rock ²

¹ Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA ² Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Greenport, NY 11944, USA ^† The authors contributed equally to this work.

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 29 November 2011; in revised form: 30 December 2011 / Accepted: 31 December 2011 / Published: 6 January 2012

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insect Viruses)

Download PDF Full-Text [1344 KB, Updated Version, uploaded 10 January 2012 10:02 CET]

The original version is still available [1344 KB, uploaded 6 January 2012 15:25 CET]

Abstract: The sexually transmitted insect virus Helicoverpa zea nudivirus 2 (HzNV-2) was determined to have a circular double-stranded DNA genome of 231,621 bp coding for an estimated 113 open reading frames (ORFs). HzNV-2 is most closely related to the nudiviruses, a sister group of the insect baculoviruses. Several putative ORFs that share homology with the baculovirus core genes were identified in the viral genome. However, HzNV-2 lacks several key genetic features of baculoviruses including the late transcriptional regulation factor, LEF-1 and the palindromic hrs, which serve as origins of replication. The HzNV-2 genome was found to code for three ORFs that had significant sequence homology to cellular genes which are not generally found in viral genomes. These included a presumed juvenile hormone esterase gene, a gene coding for a putative zinc-dependent matrix metalloprotease, and a major facilitator superfamily protein gene; all of which are believed to play a role in the cellular proliferation and the tissue hypertrophy observed in the malformation of reproductive organs observed in HzNV-2 infected corn earworm moths, Helicoverpa zea.

Keywords: nudivirus; sterile insects; baculovirus; sexually transmitted virus; virus genome; juvenile hormone esterase; HzNV-2; HzNV-1; corn earworm; Helicoverpa zea

Article Statistics

Cite This Article