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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #431959
Research Project: Bio-based Solutions for Sustainable Insect Pest Management in Urban Agriculture and Landscapes

Location: Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory

Title: Genome sequence analysis of baculoviruses from the noctuid moths Eudryas unio and Autographa gamma indicates that they are isolates of Betabaculovirus xecnigri, a species of slow-killing granuloviruses

Author
item Harrison, Robert
item Francoeur, Charlotte
item Rowley, Daniel

Submitted to: Virus Genes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2026
Publication Date: 7/22/2026
Citation: Harrison, R.L., Francoeur, C.B., Rowley, D.L. 2026. Genome sequence analysis of baculoviruses from the noctuid moths Eudryas unio and Autographa gamma indicates that they are isolates of Betabaculovirus xecnigri, a species of slow-killing granuloviruses. Virus Genes. 62(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11262-026-02260-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11262-026-02260-9

Interpretive Summary: The pearly wood-nymph and the silver Y moth are potential insect pests of agriculture.Baculoviruses are natural disease-causing agents of pest insects that have been formulated as environmentally safe bio-insecticides that can be used against moth pests instead of chemical insecticides. Previously, baculoviruses were isolated from cadavers of pearly wood-nymph and silver Y moth larvae, but little was known about these viruses. To further characterize these viruses, we determined their genome sequences and discovered that these viruses are part of a group of viruses found in other moth pests which inhibit infections by baculoviruses used as biopesticides. This result suggests that the presence of these viruses may reduce the effectiveness of baculovirus-based biopesticides. The information in this study contributes to progress towards development and application of baculovirus-based bio-insecticides, and will be of interest to those in academia, government, and industry who work with this group of insect viruses or with moth pests.

Technical Abstract: Complete genome sequences were determined for two betabaculoviruses (Baculoviridae: Lefavirales) from Eudryas unio (Eudryas unio granulovirus 1112, EuunGV-1112; and Eudryas unio granulovirus 1229, EuunGV-1229) and a betabaculovirus from the silver Y moth, Autographa gamma (Autographa gamma granulovirus Darmstadt, AugaGV-Darmstadt). Analysis of the features and open reading frame (ORF) contents of the genome sequences indicated that they were closely related to Helicoverpa armigera granulovirus (HearGV; Betabaculovirus helarmigerae) and Xestia c-nigrum granulovirus (XecnGV; Betabaculovirus xecnigri), two betabaculoviruses that kill larvae slowly and appear to suppress alphabaculovirus replication in co-infections. Phylogenetic inference with whole genome or core gene alignments grouped the EuunGV isolates in a clade with XecnGV, contained within a larger clade with AugaGV. Pairwise nucleotide distance estimation confirmed that AugaGV and the EuunGV isolates are viruses of Betabaculovirus xecnigri. Five ORFs were found to be unique to the EuunGV/AugaGV/HearGV/XecnGV group of betabaculoviruses, though what role the products of these ORFs play in the unusual features of their pathology remains to be determined.