The Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus ac110 gene encodes a new per os infectivity factor

•The Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus ac110 gene is a late gene.•The deletion of ac110 does not affect budded virion production and occlusion body formation.•Ac110 is a new per os factor that is required for successful oral infection in larvae.•Peritrophic membrane is not the functional target of Ac110.

The Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) ac110 gene is especially conserved in lepidopteran-specific baculoviruses and is uncharacterized. To investigate the role of ac110 in the baculovirus life cycle, an ac110-knockout (vAc110KO) and a repair (vAc110:HA) viruses were constructed in this study. Budded virion production and occlusion body formation were unaffected in vAc110KO-transfected or infected Sf9 cells. Intrahemocoelic injection of budded virions of vAc110KO killed Trichoplusia ni larvae as efficiently as the repair or the wild-type viruses. However, per os inoculation of occlusion bodies of vAc110KO failed to establish infection in T. ni larvae, while the repair virus was as efficient as the wild-type virus. Treatment with calcofluor white, a reagent that damages the peritrophic membrane, did not rescue the oral infectivity of vAc110KO. These results suggested that Ac110 is a new per os infectivity factor that may play a role after occlusion-derived virions pass through the peritrophic membrane during oral infection.