Baculoviruses — re-emerging biopesticides

Abstract

Biological control of agricultural pests has gained importance in recent years due to increased pressure to reduce the use of agrochemicals and their residues in the environment and food. Viruses of a few families are known to infect insects but only those belonging to the highly specialized family Baculoviridae have been used as biopesticides. They are safe to people and wildlife, their specificity is very narrow. Their application as bioinsecticides was limited until recently because of their slow killing action and technical difficulties for in vitro commercial production. Two approaches for the wider application of baculoviruses as biopesticides will be implemented in future. In countries where use of genetically modified organisms is restricted, the improvements will be mainly at the level of diagnostics, in vitro production and changes in biopesticide formulations. In the second approach, the killing activity of baculoviruses may be augmented by genetic modifications of the baculovirus genome with genes of another natural pathogen. It is expected that the baculoviruses improved by genetic modifications will be gradually introduced in countries which have fewer concerns towards genetically modified organisms.

Kinetic analysis of in vitro production of wild-type Spodoptera frugiperda nucleopolyhedrovirus

“…Baculoviruses are host-specific viral biopesticides that are important agents of biological pest control (Martignoni, 1984;Moscardi, 1999;Moscardi and Souza, 2002). They comprise the largest group of insect viruses and their use in agroecosystems causes minimal disturbance to beneficial arthropods and minimal ecological damage (Szewczyk et al, 2006). They are protected inside protein crystals (occlusion bodies), which permit the formulation of easily-applied biopesticides that are more economical and safer than chemical insecticides.…”

Adaptation of the Se301 insect cell line to suspension culture. Effect of turbulence on growth and on production of nucleopolyhedrovius (SeMNPV)

“…In the greenhouses of southeastern Spain (Almeria, Spain) S. exigua has developed resistance to many chemical pesticides (Muñoz et al 1997). Baculoviruses are well known for their potential as agents for biological control of pests in agriculture and forestry (Kolodny-Hirsch et al 1993;Szewczyk et al 2006). They do not harm non-target organisms and have a high specificity (Szewczyk et al 2006).…”

“…Baculoviruses are well known for their potential as agents for biological control of pests in agriculture and forestry (Kolodny-Hirsch et al 1993;Szewczyk et al 2006). They do not harm non-target organisms and have a high specificity (Szewczyk et al 2006). The use of the highly pathogenic and specific nucleopolyhedrovirus of S. exigua (SeM-NPV) was proposed to fight against larvae of S. exigua (Kolodny-Hirsch et al 1993;Smits and Vlak 1988).…”

“…The baculovirus-insect cell system is considered as a powerful biotechnological tool to produce various valuable biotechnological products (Maranga et al 2004;Van Lier et al 1996;Cruz et al 1998;Negrete and Kotin 2007;Szewczyk et al 2006). However, considering that the technology for the in vitro protein expression is well-established (Agathos 1996), the in vitro production of baculovirus is an attractive cost-effective alternative (Enden et al 2005).…”

A silkworm–baculovirus model for assessing the therapeutic effects of antiviral compounds: characterization and application to the isolation of antivirals from traditional medicines

“…Baculoviruses infect silkworms (Kool et al, 1995;Rohrmann, 1994;Szewczyk et al, 2006). Among the baculoviruses, Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is used as a vector for the overproduction of recombinant proteins.…”