Short CommunicationCharacterization of baculoviruses from the Martignoni collection

•A collection of infected insects and baculovirus occlusion bodies was screened by PCR for uncharacterized viruses.•A total of 47 samples were tested, 32 yielded PCR products of the appropriate size, and 26 resulted in DNA sequence data.•Ten viruses were identified that either were not present in the database, or whose genome had not been sequenced.•This information provides the basis for the genome sequencing of these viruses.

47 samples from the Martignoni baculovirus collection were characterized by PCR amplification of the lef-8 gene. This led to the identification of sequences from viruses that either were not present in the database, or had been identified, but not further characterized. These included an NPV and a GV from Pseudoletia (Mythimna) unipuncta, and NPVs from Coloradia pandora, the oak and hemlock looper (probably Lambdina sp.), Peridroma sp., the pine butterfly (probably Neophasia sp.), Hemileuca sp., Orgyia vetusta, and several Choristoneura sp. A phylogenetic tree was constructed relating these viruses to their closest relatives in the database.

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