DNA homology relationships between Spodoptera littoralis nuclear polyhedrosis virus and other baculoviruses

The DNA sequence homology relationships between Spodoptera littoralis nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) and five other lepidopteran NPVs were studied by hybridization of 32P-labeled NPV DNAs to Southern blots of restriction-endonuclease-digested NPV DNA. The S. littoralis NPV (SlMNPV) shows extensive DNA sequence homology through most of the genome with S. frugiperda NPV and S. exigua NPV. Heliothis armigera NPV, H. zea NPV, and Autographa californica NPV (AcMNPV) share fewer regions of homology with SlMNPV. Using the cloned HindIII fragment V of AcMNPV DNA, fragments with sequence homology to the polyhedrin gene of AcMNPV were identified for the viruses studied.