Molecular Characterization of a Nucleopolyhedrovirus Newly Isolated from Ophiusa disjungens in China

Ophiusa disjungens nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpdiNPV) was newly found in Guangdong Province, China. Using BamHI, EcoRI, HindIII, PstI, XhoI, XbaI digestion, the size of the OpdiNPV genome was estimated to be 92,000 base pair. The pstI-G genomic fragment of OpdiNPV was cloned and sequenced. Searches of databases identified at least four open reading frames (ORFs) within this fragment. These ORFs encode odv-e66 (EU 623602), p87/vp80 (EU 732665), odv-ec43 (EU617337) and ac108 gene (EU 732666) respectively. The phylogenetic tree of NPVs based on the combined sequences of odv-ec43 and ac108 indicated that OpdiNPV was most closely related to Mamestra configurata NPV-A and Mamestra configurata NPV-B. The characterization of OpdiNPV in this paper would provide better understanding molecular properties of this virus and be helpful in the development of the newly isolated virus as a biopesticide or an engineered pesticide to control more species of insect pests.