Sequence comparison between three geographically distinct Spodoptera frugiperda multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus isolates: Detecting positively selected genes

OIHANE SIMÓN; LEOPOLDO PALMA; INÉS BEPERET; DELIA MUÑOZ; MIGUEL LÓPEZ-FERBER; PRIMITIVO CABALLERO; TREVOR WILLIAMS

JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2011 vol. 107 p. 33 - 42

0022-2011

he complete genomic sequence of a Nicaraguan plaque purified Spodoptera frugiperda nucleopolyhedro- virus (SfMNPV) genotype SfMNPV-B was determined and compared to previously sequenced isolates from United States (SfMNPV-3AP2) and Brazil (SfMNPV-19). The genome of SfMNPV-B (132,954 bp) was 1623 bp and 389 bp larger than that of SfMNPV-3AP2 and SfMNPV-19, respectively. Genome size dif- ferences were mainly due to a deletion located in the SfMNPV-3AP2 egt region and small deletions and point mutations in SfMNPV-19. Nucleotide sequences were strongly conserved (99.35% identity) and a high degree of predicted amino acid sequence identity was observed. A total of 145 open reading frames (ORFs) were identified in SfMNPV-B, two of them (sf39a and sf110a) had not been previously identified in the SfMNPV-3AP2 and SfMNPV-19 genomes and one (sf57a) was absent in both these genomes. In addi- tion, sf6 was not previously identified in the SfMNPV-19 genome. In contrast, SfMNPV-B and SfMNPV-19 both lacked sf129 that had been reported in SfMNPV-3AP2. In an effort to identify genes potentially involved in virulence or in determining population adaptations, selection pressure analysis was per- formed. Three ORFs were identified undergoing positive selection: sf49 (pif-3), sf57 (odv-e66b) and sf122 (unknown function). Strong selection for ODV envelope protein genes indicates that the initial infection process in the insect midgut is one critical point at which adaptation acts during the transmis- sion of these viruses in geographically distant populations. The function of ORF sf122 is being examined.