A computational approach to polydnavirus gene identification

Polydnaviruses (PDVs) are an unusual group of insect viruses possessed by some endoparasitic wasps. Insect viruses have been used as biological pesticides and gene expression vectors for many years. Consequently, interest in the discovery of new insect viruses and viral gene products has increasingly grown. The complicated life cycles and complex genome structures of PDVs make the highly desirable task of gene prediction difficult, thus hampering the identification of novel gene products. The goal of this study is to provide a less time consuming and more cost efficient method to PDV gene identification. Campoletis sonorensis ichnovirus (CsIV) is a PDV which has been extensively studied and makes a perfect candidate for this type of analysis. Using a variety of programs found online at the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI) website and a phlyletic retention analysis among sequenced ichnoviruses, 5 novel CsIV genes were identified and their expression was confirmed by reverse-transcriptase PCR (rtPCR). Functional analysis of one gene shows it may have a function unique to other CsIV members. This research provides another means of gene identification that could be used for other PDVs allowing for more rapid identification and ultimately the discovery of new viral gene products.