Characterization of a Betabaculovirus from the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea Drury. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), in Turkey

Bayramoglu Z., NALÇACIOĞLU R., DEMİRBAĞ Z., DEMİR İ.

BIOCONTROL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol.28, no.12, pp.1178-1190, 2018 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 28 Issue: 12
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/09583157.2018.1520197
  • Journal Name: BIOCONTROL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1178-1190
  • Keywords: Hyphantria cunea, baculovirus, granulovirus, HycuGV, virus phylogeny, biological control, NUCLEAR POLYHEDROSIS-VIRUS, MOLECULAR-IDENTIFICATION, DEVELOPMENTAL RESISTANCE, LARVAL AGE, NUCLEOPOLYHEDROVIRUS, GRANULOSIS, SUSCEPTIBILITY, BACULOVIRUSES, ISOLATE, MOTH
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Affiliated: No

Abstract

A broad survey of the fall webworm (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) populations in agricultural and forested areas in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey led to the detection of a granulovirus (GV). Hyphantria cunea granulovirus (HycuGV)-Hc1 isolate was characterized and tested against third instar larvae of H.cunea. Electron microscopy confirmed typical GV morphology with ovoid granules of approximately 368 +/- 16nmx201 +/- 19nm. Each granule contained a single rod-shaped virion with a mean size of 43 +/- 12nmx250 +/- 12nm. The genome was analyzed by restriction endonuclease and estimated to be approximate to 112kb. Partial sequencing of the granulin (gran), late expression factor-8 (lef-8) and late expression factor-9 (lef-9) genes also confirmed the identity of the virus as HycuGV. A phylogenetic analysis based on these conserved genes, HycuGV-Hc1 grouped together with the previous HycuGV isolate (A5-1) and Estigmene acrea granulovirus (EsacGV) isolate from the same family. The LC50 of HycuGV-Hc1 was 2.6x10(4) occlusion bodies (OBs/ml). Pot experiments, under field conditions, showed significant differences between virus treated and control groups. This is the first study to describe a novel Turkish HycuGV-Hc1 isolate, and preliminary data suggests that the virus has a significant potential as an effective biopesticide for control of H.cunea.