Introduction to baculovirus molecular biology

The development of baculovirus expression vector systems has accompanied a rapid expansion of our knowledge about the genes, their function, and regulation in insect cells. Classification of these viruses has also been refined as we learn more about differences in gene content between isolates, how this affects virus structure, and their replication in insect larvae. Baculovirus gene expression occurs in an ordered cascade, regulated by early, late, and very late gene promoters. There is now a detailed knowledge of these promoter elements and how they interact first with host cell-encoded RNA polymerases and later with virus-encoded enzymes. The composition of this virus RNA polymerase is known. The virus replication process culminates in the very high level expression of both polyhedrin and p10 gene products in the latter stages of infection. It has also been realized that the insect host cell has innate defenses against baculoviruses in the form of an apoptotic response to virus invasion. Baculoviruses counter this by encoding apoptotic-suppressors, which also appear to have a role in determining the host range of the virus. Also of importance to our understanding of baculovirus expression systems is how the virus can accumulate mutations within genes that affect recombinant protein yield in cell culture. The summary in this chapter is not exhaustive, but should provide a good preparation to those wishing to use this highly successful gene expression system.