RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Polydnaviruses of Braconid Wasps Derive from an Ancestral Nudivirus
JF Science
JO Science
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP 926
OP 930
DO 10.1126/science.1166788
VO 323
IS 5916
A1 Bézier, Annie
A1 Annaheim, Marc
A1 Herbinière, Juline
A1 Wetterwald, Christoph
A1 Gyapay, Gabor
A1 Bernard-Samain, Sylvie
A1 Wincker, Patrick
A1 Roditi, Isabel
A1 Heller, Manfred
A1 Belghazi, Maya
A1 Pfister-Wilhem, Rita
A1 Periquet, Georges
A1 Dupuy, Catherine
A1 Huguet, Elisabeth
A1 Volkoff, Anne-Nathalie
A1 Lanzrein, Beatrice
A1 Drezen, Jean-Michel
YR 2009
UL http://science.sciencemag.org/content/323/5916/926.abstract
AB Many species of parasitoid wasps inject polydnavirus particles in order to manipulate host defenses and development. Because the DNA packaged in these particles encodes almost no viral structural proteins, their relation to viruses has been debated. Characterization of complementary DNAs derived from braconid wasp ovaries identified genes encoding subunits of a viral RNA polymerase and structural components of polydnavirus particles related most closely to those of nudiviruses—a sister group of baculoviruses. The conservation of this viral machinery in different braconid wasp lineages sharing polydnaviruses suggests that parasitoid wasps incorporated a nudivirus-related genome into their own genetic material. We found that the nudiviral genes themselves are no longer packaged but are actively transcribed and produce particles used to deliver genes essential for successful parasitism in lepidopteran hosts.