Characterization of a new Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus variant causing epizootic on a previously unreported host, Helicoverpa gelotopoeon (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

•This is the first report of a baculovirus infecting Helicoverpa gelotopoeon.•Comprehensive biological and molecular characterization was performed.•The virus was shown to be related but not identical to HzSNPV variants of HearNPV.

This paper reports the first biological and molecular characterization of a nucleopolyhedrovirus isolated from the soybean and cotton pest Helicoverpa gelotopoeon. Studies were performed following a virus outbreak in a rearing facility and in wild H. gelotopoeon populations in Córdoba, Argentina. Host identity was corroborated by partial sequencing of the COI gene. Scanning electron microscope observations of purified OBs revealed their polyhedral morphology and an average diameter of 0.89 ± 0.14 μm. Ultrathin sections of infected larvae examined by transmission electron microscopy showed the intranuclear occurrence of polyhedra and virus particles in fat body cells. Nucleocapsids were singly enveloped. Phylogenetic analysis of lef-8, lef-9, polh, orf5/5b and hr3-orf62 viral sequences identified this new NPV isolate (hereafter HegeSNPV) as a variant of Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV). Furthermore, HegeSNPV was closely related to the so-called “HzSNPV Group” within HearNPV, although having particular characteristics.

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