Host range expansion by recombination of the baculoviruses Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus and Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus.

The mechanisms of host specificity of nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs) (Baculoviridae) were analyzed after coinfection of Bombyx mori NPV (BmNPV) and one of four distinct groups of Spodoptera litura NPV (SlNPV), including an Autographa californica NPV (AcNPV) variant (S. Maeda, Y. Mukohara, and A. Kondo, J. Gen. Virol. 71:2631-2639, 1990), into various lepidopteran cell lines. Replication of BmNPV in nonpermissive cells (TN-386, SF-21, and CLS-79) was induced by coinfection with AcNPV but not with the other three SlNPV groups. These induced progeny NPVs were plaque purified in BmN cells, which are susceptible to only BmNPV, and characterized. Most of these isolates did not replicate in the cell lines in which they were produced, indicating the existence of a helper function of AcNPV for BmNPV replication in nonpermissive cells. Some of these isolates, however, were able to replicate in cell lines nonpermissive to BmNPV, indicating the appearance of a new virus with wider host specificity. DNA restriction endonuclease analysis showed that the isolates exhibiting wider host range were recombinant viruses between the parents, AcNPV and BmNPV, resulting from various types of crossovers of relatively large areas of their genomes. Expansion of host range was also observed in larvae.