Characterization of an Egyptian Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus and a possible use of a highly conserved region from polyhedrin gene for nucleopolyhedrovirus detection.

An Egyptian isolate of Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpliNPV) was tested for its potential as biocontrol agent in comparison to Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). Comparative assays of SpliNPV and AcMNPV against 2nd instar larvae of Spodoptera littoralis revealed 4-fold greater susceptibility of S. littoralis to AcMNPV than to SpliNPV based on LC50 values for the two viruses. The LT50s determined for SpliNPV and AcMNPV using LC50 of the virus against 2nd instar larvae were 4.2 and 5.8 days, respectively. A DNA segment of 405 bp containing highly conserved region from polyhedrin gene of SpliNPV (Polh-cr) was successfully amplified by PCR. Subsequently, this DNA segment was cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence and its deduced amino acid sequence were compared to all available sequences in GenBank. Sequence alignment results revealed that Polh-cr showed significant similarities with 91 different baculovirus isolates. The percentage of homology ranged from 78% for Plusia orichalcea NPV to 99% for SpliNPV. This highly conserved region provides a candidate that could be used in easy, fast and economic prospective systems for virus detection as well as in biological control strategies.