Review of Venoms of Non-Polydnavirus Carrying Ichneumonoid Wasps

Abstract

Parasitoids are predominantly insects that develop as larvae on or inside their host, also usually another insect, ultimately killing it after various periods of parasitism when both parasitoid larva and host are alive. The very large wasp superfamily Ichneumonoidea is composed of parasitoids of other insects and comprises a minimum of 100,000 species. The superfamily is dominated by two similarly sized families, Braconidae and Ichneumonidae, which are collectively divided into approximately 80 subfamilies. Of these, six have been shown to release DNA-containing virus-like particles, encoded within the wasp genome, classified in the virus family Polydnaviridae. Polydnaviruses infect and have profound effects on host physiology in conjunction with various venom and ovarial secretions, and have attracted an immense amount of research interest. Physiological interactions between the remaining ichneumonoids and their hosts result from adult venom gland secretions and in some cases, ovarian or larval secretions. Here we review the literature on the relatively few studies on the effects and chemistry of these ichneumonoid venoms and make suggestions for interesting future research areas. In particular, we highlight relatively or potentially easily culturable systems with features largely lacking in currently studied systems and whose study may lead to new insights into the roles of venom chemistry in host-parasitoid relationships as well as their evolution.

Discovery of new endogenous viral elements in campoplegine wasps (Ichneumonidae, Campopleginae, Campoplex) suggests a widespread nudivirus domestication event

“…We therefore searched for virulence protein candidates which have similar functions to virulence proteins from other domesticated viruses or venom proteins. Of these virulence protein candidates, we found a serine protease inhibitor (serpin), which is a protein that has also been detected in venom of several parasitoid wasps and in MdBV (Microplitis demolitor Bracovirus) (Beck & Strand, 2007; Inwood et al, 2023; Moreau & Asgari, 2015; Poirié et al, 2014; Quicke & Butcher, 2021). These proteins have been shown to inhibit the proteolytic cascade leading to the production of phenoloxidase (PO), involved in the melanisation reaction (Beck & Strand, 2007; Colinet et al, 2009).…”

Functional and Proteomic Insights into Aculeata Venoms

“…In order to fully characterize the venoms of aculeates, a comparative study of venomgland transcriptomes and proteomes is necessary. In recent years, the number of studies that included these data for hymenopterans has increased, but in the face of the enormous diversity of the order, it is clear that the research community has only started to scratch the surface of what there is to be discovered [ 62 , 78 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 ]. One interesting aspect of our own contribution to this enormous task is that the transcripts we identified from the venom gland of A. mellifera were found to have nearly identical sequences to other A. mellifera venom proteins which are available in the Uniprot database ( Figure 2 ) and those identified by Koludarov et al [ 78 ].…”

Effects of Envenomation on Survival and Development of the Host-Parasitoid System of Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

“…In both parasitic wasp groups, endo-and ecto-parasitoids, the toxic secretions injected by females at the time of egg laying causes the induction of major host physiological alterations following parasitism (Varricchio et al, 1999;Moreau and Asgari, 2015). These secretions, which are injected along with the eggs, contain a venom component, which is associated in certain braconid and ichneumonid wasps with a symbiotic virus in the family Polydnaviridae (Asgari, 2006;Pennacchio and Strand, 2006;Gundersen-Rindal et al, 2013;Salvia et al, 2017Salvia et al, , 2018Quicke and Butcher, 2021). Moreover, host regulation can also be due to secretions from the parasitoid eggs or embryoassociated cells, such as teratocytes, and secretions from the developing parasitoid larvae (Asgari and Rivers, 2011;Salvia et al, 2019).…”