Baculovirus-like particles in the reproductive tracts of female parasitoid wasps

1976 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1013-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald B. Stoltz ◽  
S. Bradleigh Vinson ◽  
Edmund A. MacKinnon
Keyword(s):  
Heliothis Virescens ◽  
Tobacco Budworm ◽  
Parasitoid Wasps ◽  
Female Parasitoid ◽  
Virus Like Particles

Virus-like particles have been found in specific regions of the reproductive tracts of three different braconid wasps, all parasitoids of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens. The particles are nuclear in origin, and Feulgen cytochemistry of particulate fluid in the calyx and oviducts of one species has revealed the presence of DNA. On the basis of apparent structural homologies, it is suggested that the parasitoid particles are related to baculoviruses.

Baculovirus-like particles in the reproductive tracts of female parasitoid wasps II: the genus Apanteles

1977 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald B. Stoltz ◽  
S. Bradleigh Vinson
Keyword(s):  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Parasitoid Wasps ◽  
Nuclear Pores ◽  
Female Parasitoid ◽  
Virus Like Particles

Virus-like particles have been found in the female reproductive tracts of all Apanteles spp. thus far examined. Particles generally consist of putative baculovirus-like nucleocapsids which are enveloped singly or as groups within nuclei of calyx epithelial cells. Enveloped particles are injected into host caterpillars during oviposition. Subsequently, particle nucleocapsids appear in the cytoplasm of many host cells, and appear to be uncoated at nuclear pores.

scholarly journals A behavior-manipulating virus relative as a source of adaptive genes for parasitoid wasps

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Di Giovanni ◽  
David Lepetit ◽  
Matthieu Boulesteix ◽  
Yohann Coute ◽  
Marc Ravallec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Evolutionary Origin ◽  
Parasitoid Wasps ◽  
Viral Origin ◽  
Wasp Species ◽  
Ecological Interaction ◽  
Virus Like Particles ◽  
Domestication Process ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Reproductive Apparatus

To circumvent host immune response, some hymenopteran endo-parasitoids produce virus-like structures in their reproductive apparatus that are injected into the host together with the eggs. These viral-like structures are absolutely necessary for the reproduction of these wasps. The viral evolutionary origin of these viral-like particles has been demonstrated in only a few cases of wasp species all belonging to the Ichneumonoidea superfamily. In addition, the nature of the initial virus-wasp association remains unknown for all. This is either because no closely related descendant infects the wasps, because it has not been sampled yet, or because the virus lineage went extinct. In this paper, we show that the virus-like particles (VLPs) produced by endoparasitoids of Drosophila belonging to the Leptopilina genus (superfamily Cynipoidea) do have a viral origin, solving the debate on their origin. Furthermore, the ancestral donor virus still has close relatives infecting one of the wasp species, thus giving us insights on the ecological interaction that possibly allowed the domestication process. Intriguingly, this contemporary virus is both vertically and horizontally transmitted and has the particularity to manipulate the superparasitism behavior of the wasp. This raises the possibility that behavior manipulation has been instrumental in the birth of such association between wasps and viruses.

scholarly journals Ecdysteroidogenesis in Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): Recombinant Prothoracicotropic Hormone and Brain Extract Show Comparable Effects

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Nardiello ◽  
Rosanna Salvia ◽  
Andrea Scala ◽  
Carmen Scieuzo ◽  
Sabino Aurelio Bufo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heliothis Virescens ◽  
Complex Mixture ◽  
Prothoracic Gland ◽  
Tobacco Budworm ◽  
Brain Extract ◽  
In Vitro Tests ◽  
Prothoracicotropic Hormone ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

Abstract Prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) is a neuropeptide that triggers a cascade of events within the prothoracic gland (PG) cells, leading to the activation of all the crucial enzymes involved in ecdysone biosynthesis, the main insect steroid hormone. Studies concerning ecdysteroidogenesis predicted PTTH action using brain extract (BE), consisting in a complex mixture in which some components positively or negatively interfere with PTTH-stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis. Consequently, the integration of these opposing factors in steroidogenic tissues leads to a complex secretory pattern. A recombinant form of prothoracicotropic hormone (rPTTH) from the tobacco budworm Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was expressed and purified to perform in vitro tests in a standard and repeatable manner. A characterization of rPTTH primary and secondary structures was performed. The ability of rPTTH and H. virescens BE to stimulate ecdysteroidogenesis was investigated on the third day of fifth larval stage. rPTTH activity was compared with the BE mixture by enzyme immunoassay and western blot, revealing that they equally stimulate the production of significant amount of ecdysone, through a transduction cascade that includes the TOR pathway, by the phosphorylation of 4E binding protein (4E-BP) and S6 kinase (S6K), the main targets of TOR protein. The results of these experiments suggest the importance of obtaining a functional pure hormone to perform further studies, not depending on the crude brain extract, composed by different elements and susceptible to different uncontrollable variables.

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