J Korean Soc Virol.  1997 Mar;27(1):29-37.

Characteristics and Pathogenicity of Host Range Expanded Recombinant Viruses in Insect Cells

• Kim HS
• Woo SD
• Kim WJ
• Choi JY
• Jin BR
• Lee YH
• Kang SK

Abstract

To use recombinant viruses with wider host range as viral insecticides, we investigated the characteristics and pathogenicity of host range expanded recombinant viruses in insect cells. We compared host range expanded recombinant viruses, RecS-B6 and RecB-8, constructed by cotransfection of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) and Bombyx mori NPV (BmNPV), to host range expanded AcNPV, Ac-BH, by substitution of the 0.6 Kb fragment of the BmNPV helicase gene. Restriction endonuclease profiles of RecS-B6 and RecB-8 DNAs were different from those of parent viruses. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the 0.6 Kb region in the putative helicase gene of RecS-B6 and RecB-8 showed that their structures were identical to the counterpart region of BmNPV Comparison of viral replication of these recombinant viruses in Sf-21 and BmN-4 cells showed that Ac-BH, compared to wild type viruses, replicated well in BmN-4 cells but poorly in Sf-21 cells. In contrast, RecS-B6 and RecB-8 replicated relatively well in both cells compared to parent viruses. These results may imply that random genomic recombinant viruses, RecS-B6 and RecB-8, possess better potential as viral pesticides than helicase-mediated recombinant virus, Ac-BH.

MeSH Terms

Base Sequence
Bombyx
DNA
DNA Restriction Enzymes
Host Specificity*
Humans
Insecticides
Insects*
Nucleopolyhedrovirus
Parents
Pesticides
Virulence*
DNA
DNA Restriction Enzymes
Insecticides
Pesticides