13 - Baculoviruses: Master Manipulators of Moths

Baculoviruses are a family of insect-specific pathogens that manipulate their hosts in numerous interesting ways. Generally, baculoviruses prey on specific species of lepidopterans. As both the minute subcellular processes and the macroscopic physiology of the larva are altered, these viruses replicate to high titers. Conditions are optimized for spread to the next host. At the culmination of the infection, gypsy moth caterpillars climb high into the trees and dissolve into high-titered slime, raining virus down onto their brethren. Many of the genetic adaptations were genes stolen from their hosts and altered to best suit the viruses. This feat is made easier by their shared genetic material; baculoviruses are large double-stranded DNA viruses. Despite these fascinating interactions between virus and host, much of the interest in baculoviruses has been based on their utility as protein expression vectors. This talk will briefly discuss some of the intriguing adaptations of baculoviruses and the disturbing consequences for their lepidopteran victims.