BIOASSAY OF SEVERAL BACULOVIRUSES FOR VIRUS-INDUCED MORTALITY IN MANDUCA-SEXTA LARVAE AND INDUCTION OF INFECTION-SPECIFIC PROTEIN

Neonate larvae of Manduca sexta were tested for susceptibility to five nuclear polyhedrosis viruses and three granulosis viruses using a dro plet feeding assay. Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) and Erinnyis ello granulosis virus (EeGV) were found to infec t and kill M. sexta larvae, with observed median survival times (ST50) of 94.6 +/- 1.7 (SE) and 184.7 +/- 24.3 (SE) hr, respectively. M. sex ta larvae were also infected with EeGV late in the third instar, bled 8 and 11 days later, and their hemolymph was examined by SDS-PAGE for viral infection-specific proteins. The EeGV-infected larvae showed the presence of an infection-specific protein of molecular weight ca. 33k Da. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.