An unusual virus from the parasitic wasp Cotesia melanoscela

Abstract

Certain strains of the braconid parasitoid Cotesia melanoscela carry two different viruses within their ovaries, one of which (here designated CmV2) is apparently not a polydnavirus. Virus replication occurs in the ovarian calyx and in some other tissues of both male and female parasitoids; as yet, no replication has been observed in the testis, however. In addition, CmV2 is one of only two parasitoid viruses known to replicate in host insect larvae, and we now show that this virus is also capable of replicating in vitro; the virus is nevertheless nonpathogenic for gypsy moth larvae. The virus is not transmissible per os, either to host animals or to larvae of parasitoid strains lacking it. CmV2 is stably maintained within strains carrying it apparently by a vertical transmission mode involving the maternal line; transmission via the male germ line could not be demonstrated. While purification of the virus was not achieved, preliminary work allows us to suggest that the genome consists of a single double-stranded DNA molecule of approximately 125 kb.