A highly efective nucleopolyhedrovirus against Malacosoma spp. (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) from Turkey: isolation, characterization, phylogeny, and virulence

Abstract

A nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) was isolated from diseased larvae of the eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum(Fabricius), collected from the northeastern part of Turkey. Light and electron microscopic observations showed that this virus is amultiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (MNPV). Te dimensions of the polyhedral inclusion bodies varied from 1.0 to 2.1 µm, and the sizesof the virions were also measured to be approximately 194.5 nm. Restriction analysis of the new isolate and ManeNPV-T2 (previouslyisolated from M. neustria larvae) showed that the new virus is closely related to ManeNPV-T2. Furthermore, sequence and phylogeneticanalysis of polh and lef-8 also revealed a high degree of homology to M. neustria NPV. Our results indicate that the new virus is anotherisolate of ManeNPV that infects M. americanum larvae naturally. Terefore, it was named ManeNPV-T3. Te virulence of ManeNPV-T3,which was tested against the third instar of M. americanum and M. neustria larvae under laboratory conditions, indicated that 0.6 ×10 5 occlusion bodies per larvae caused 100% mortality within 10 days. Te same dose also showed viral infection in Malacosomacastrensis, Plodia interpunctella , Taumetopoea pityocampa, and Galleria mellonella larvae causing 65%, 60%, 35%, and 25% mortalities,respectively. Te fndings indicate that ManeNPV-T3 is a promising microbial agent for the biological control of Malacosoma species.