Identification of an Argentinean isolate of Spodoptera frugiperda granulovirus

摘要

The fall armyworm,Spodoptera frugiperda(J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an important maize pest. Due to the environmental impact and emergence of resistance caused by chemical pesticides and transgenic events, the use of baculoviruses becomes a safe and useful alternative for its control in integrated pest management strategies. Here we report the identification of a novel isolate of a granulovirus ofS. frugiperdanative to the central region of Argentina, named SfGV ARG. We observed that larvae infected with SfGV ARG showed a yellowish coloration, swollen body and, in some cases, severe lesions in the last abdominal segments. We confirmed the identity of the isolate by sequencing fragments of thelef-8,lef-9andgranulingenes and by calculating evolutionary distances using the Kimura-2-Parameter model. SfGV ARG DNA restriction pattern allowed to estimate a genome of at least 135 kb.