Genome wide analysis of polydnavirus promoters using neural network promoter prediction

The study of Polydnaviruses (PDV) and of their genomes has attracted considerable research efforts in the last decade, which have allowed the completion of quite a few genome projects. To date, the genomes of the bracoviruses associated with Cotesia plutellae, Cotesia congregata and Microplitis demolitor have been fully sequenced, and, more recently, we have completed the genome sequence of Toxoneuron nigriceps bracovirus (TnBV). We will present the major findings of this work and of an in silico analysis which aims at identifying the promoter elements in the available bracovirus genomes, using a Drosophila melanogaster-based tool for promoter prediction (neural network promoter prediction). The comparative analysis performed sheds light on the conservation of the promoter elements during PDV evolution and provides information on the regulatory effects of the predicted elements on the expression profile of specific genes.