Evolution of inhibitors of apoptosis in baculoviruses and their insect hosts

The phylogenetic relationships of inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) from insects and insect viruses were reconstructed and compared with the phylogeny of the viruses reconstructed on the basis of DNA polymerase species. The phylogeny supported the hypothesis that there were three IAP genes in the ancestor of the viral genus Nucleopolyhedrovirus (family Baculoviridae), but that there has been differential deletion of IAP genes in different lineages within this genus. An IAP gene from the granulovirus of the lepidopteran species Cydia pomonella (CpGV) was found to be a close relative of IAP genes from species of the insect order Lepidoptera, supporting the origin of this viral gene by capture of a host gene early in the evolution of Lepidoptera. The phylogeny supported the occurrence of least one other independent event of capture of an IAP gene by a virus and suggested the possibility of at least two other such events. Contrary to the prediction that host genes with viral homologues should experience an enhanced rate of amino acid replacement, no acceleration of evolutionary rate was detectable in these lepidopteran genes, which showed particularly low rates of non-synonymous nucleotide substitution in functionally important domains.