The complete genome sequence of a gammabaculovirus from the Virginia pine sawfly, Neodiprion pratti pratti

The complete genome sequence of a baculovirus isolated from larvae of the Virginia pine sawfly, Neodiprion pratti pratti, was determined from sequence data generated from two isolates of this virus obtained from virus-killed larvae harvested during a N. pratti pratti outbreak in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, USA, during the 1950s. Sequence assembly and analysis of this virus, Neodiprion pratti pratti nucleopolyhedrovirus (NeppNPV), revealed a circular genome of 81,658 bp. BLASTp queries with the 89 ORFs annotated for NeppNPV indicated a close relationship with Neodiprion lecontei nucleopolyhedrovirus (NeleNPV). Pairwise nucleotide distances and phylogeny determined from alignments of baculovirus core gene homologs indicated that NeppNPV and NeleNPV are both members of species Gammabaculovirus nelecontei. NeppNPV and NeleNPV were distinguishable by differences in ORF content and indels suggestive of intramolecular recombination. Overlapping geographic ranges and shared host plants for N. pratti pratti and N. lecontei suggest the potential for cross-infections of larvae of these two sawfly species with NeppNPV and NeleNPV.