ARS | Publication request: Salivary gland hypertrophy viruses (SGHVs): a novel group of insect pathogenic viruses

Submitted to: Annual Review Of Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 21, 2010
Publication Date: January 15, 2011
Citation: Lietze, V., Abd-Alla, A.M., Vreysen, M.J., Geden, C.J., Boucias, D.G. 2011. Salivary gland hypertrophy viruses (SGHVs): a novel group of insect pathogenic viruses. Annual Review Of Entomology. 56:63-80. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-120709-144841.

Interpretive Summary: House flies are one of the most important agricultural and public health pests throughout the world. Because insecticides are no longer effective at controlling flies in many situations there is a critical need to identify promising new methods of fly control. Scientists at USDA’s Center for Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology (Gainesville, Florida) and at the University of Florida have been investigating a newly discovered virus that infects adult house flies known as Salivary Gland Hypertrophy Virus (SGHV). Flies that become infected live half as long as healthy flies and do not lay any eggs. This article reviews the status of SGHV of house flies and of two related viruses that infect tsetse flies and a fly pest of ornamental crops. It describes the discovery and prevalence of different SGHVs, summarizes their biochemical characterization and taxonomy, compares morphological and histopathological properties, and details transmission routes and the influence of infection on host biology and reproduction. In addition, the potential use of SGHVs as sterilizing agents for house fly control and the deleterious impact of SGHVs on colonized tsetse flies reared for sterile insect technique are discussed.

Technical Abstract: Salivary gland hypertrophy viruses (SGHVs) are a unique, unclassified group of entomopathogenic, double-stranded DNA viruses that have been reported from three genera of Diptera. These viruses replicate in nuclei of salivary gland cells in adult flies, inducing gland enlargement with little obvious external disease symptoms. Viral infection inhibits reproduction by suppressing vitellogenesis, causing testicular aberrations, and/or disrupting mating behavior. Historical and present research findings support a recent proposal of a new virus family, the Hytrosaviridae. This review describes the discovery and prevalence of different SGHVs, summarizes their biochemical characterization and taxonomy, compares morphological and histopathological properties, and details transmission routes and the influence of infection on host biology and reproduction. In addition, the potential use of SGHVs as sterilizing agents for house fly control and the deleterious impact of SGHVs on colonized tsetse flies reared for sterile insect technique are discussed.