Transport of Wild-Type and Recombinant Nucleopolyhedroviruses by Scavenging and Predatory Arthropods.

Abstract

Wild-type and recombinant nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs) were compared in their capability to be transported over limited distances by the predator Podisus maculiventris (Say) and scavengers Sarcophaga bullata (Parker) and Acheta domesticus (Linnaeus) in Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) larvae infesting collards in a greenhouse microcosm. Viruses tested were variants of Autographa californica (Speyer) NPV (AcNPV): wild-type virus (AcNPV.WT), AcNPV expressing a scorpion toxin (AcNPV.AaIT), and AcNPV expressing juvenile hormone esterase (AcJHE.SG). Podisus maculiventris transported AcNPV.WT and S. bullata transported AcNPV.WT and AcNPV.AaIT. Prevalence and transport of AcNPV.WT were greater than those of AcNPV.AaIT and AcJHE.SG, regardless of whether the nontarget organism carriers were present or absent. Podisus maculiventris and S. bullata transported recombinant and wild-type NPVs at a rate of up to 62.5 cm/day, and A. domesticus transported wild-type NPV at 125 cm/day. The infected host insects, T. ni, undoubtedly contributed to viral transport in the current research. In every experiment, both the wild-type and recombinant virus spread to some degree in the plots without predators or scavengers. The relative amounts of NPVs that accumulated in soil, as indicated by bioassay mortality percentages, generally exhibited spatial patterns similar to those of T. ni mortality due to NPV on the collards plants. Thus, the predator and scavengers in the current research demonstrated some capacity to transport wild-type as well as recombinant viruses at significant rates in a greenhouse microcosm.