In December 1983, a seminal paper appeared on the overexpression of human IFN-β in insect cells with a genetically engineered baculovirus. The finding that baculoviruses produced massive amounts of ...two proteins (polyhedrin and p10) by means of two very strong promoters and that the corresponding genes were dispensable for virus propagation in insect cells was crucial in the development of this expression system. During the next 30 years, major improvements were achieved over the original baculovirus expression vector (BEV) system, facilitating the engineering of the baculovirus vectors, the modification of the sugar moieties of glycoproteins expressed in insect cells and the scale-up of the cell culture process. To date, thousands of recombinant proteins have been produced in this successful expression system, including several protein-based human and veterinary vaccines that are currently on the market. Viral vectors based on adeno-associated virus are being produced using recombinant baculovirus technology and the first gene therapy treatment based on this method has been registered. Specially adapted BEVs are used to deliver and express heterologous genes in mammalian cells, and they may be used for gene therapy and cancer treatment in the future. The purpose of this review is to highlight the thirtieth 'anniversary' of this expression system by summarizing the fundamental research and major technological advances that allowed its development, whilst noting challenges for further improvements.
RNA viruses in insects are targets of an RNA interference (RNAi)-based antiviral immune response, in which viral replication intermediates or viral dsRNA genomes are processed by Dicer-2 (Dcr-2) into ...viral small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs). Whether dsDNA virus infections are controlled by the RNAi pathway remains to be determined. Here, we analyzed the role of RNAi in DNA virus infection using Drosophila melanogaster infected with Invertebrate iridescent virus 6 (IIV-6) as a model. We show that Dcr-2 and Argonaute-2 mutant flies are more sensitive to virus infection, suggesting that vsiRNAs contribute to the control of DNA virus infection. Indeed, small RNA sequencing of IIV-6–infected WT and RNAi mutant flies identified abundant vsiRNAs that were produced in a Dcr-2 –dependent manner. We observed a highly uneven distribution with strong clustering of vsiRNAs to small defined regions (hotspots) and modest coverage at other regions (coldspots). vsiRNAs mapped in similar proportions to both strands of the viral genome, suggesting that long dsRNA derived from convergent overlapping transcripts serves as a substrate for Dcr-2. In agreement, strand-specific RT-PCR and Northern blot analyses indicated that antisense transcripts are produced during infection. Moreover, we show that vsiRNAs are functional in silencing reporter constructs carrying fragments of the IIV-6 genome. Together, our data indicate that RNAi provides antiviral defense against dsDNA viruses in animals. Thus, RNAi is the predominant antiviral defense mechanism in insects that provides protection against all major classes of viruses.
The emerging arthritogenic, mosquito-borne chikungunya virus (CHIKV) causes severe disease in humans and represents a serious public health threat in countries where Aedes spp mosquitoes are present. ...This study describes for the first time the successful production of CHIKV virus-like particles (VLPs) in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses. This well-established expression system is rapidly scalable to volumes required for epidemic responses and proved well suited for processing of CHIKV glycoproteins and production of enveloped VLPs. Herein we show that a single immunization with 1 µg of non-adjuvanted CHIKV VLPs induced high titer neutralizing antibody responses and provided complete protection against viraemia and joint inflammation upon challenge with the Réunion Island CHIKV strain in an adult wild-type mouse model of CHIKV disease. CHIKV VLPs produced in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses thus represents as a new, safe, non-replicating and effective vaccine candidate against CHIKV infections.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•Genome sequences of North American and Eurasian alphabaculovirus (MacoNPV-A&B)•MacoNPV-A and MacoNPV-B have wide geographic distribution of isolates.•Presence/absence of lef-7 and ...hel-2 distinguish MacoNPV-A and MacoNPV-B.
Whole genome sequencing and multiplex PCR analysis were used to characterize previously isolated baculovirus isolates from Mamestra populations in Eurasia. Although these viruses have been previously described as Mamestra brassicae nucleopolyhedrovirus (MbNPV/MabrNPV), we demonstrate here that these isolates represent strains of the baculovirus species Alphabaculovirus maconfiguratae (MacoNPV-A) and Alphabaculovirus altermaconfiguratae (MacoNPV-B). The MabrNPV-Bu and –Uk isolates had 96% nucleotide (nt) identity to the type isolate MacoNPV-A 90/2 at the whole genome level and in addition contained a lef-7 homologue which is found in MacoNPV-A but not MacoNPV-B. MabrNPV-Si, -De and –Nl had 96.6, 96.6 and 98.5% nt identity to the type isolate MacoNPV-B 96/2 at the whole genome level, respectively and contained a helicase-2 homologue. Gene content, synteny and K-2-P lef-8, lef-9 and polh analysis also confirmed the presence of both MacoNPV-A and MacoNPV-B isolates in Eurasia. Thus, both these alphabaculovirus species have wide Holarctic distributions in Mamestra host species. MacoNPV-A and MacoNPV-B have wide host ranges and in addition we showed that MacoNPV-B isolates trended to higher infectivity for T. ni larvae.
Baculovirus genomics van Oers, Monique M; Vlak, Just M
Current drug targets,
10/2007, Letnik:
8, Številka:
10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Baculovirus genomes are covalently closed circles of double stranded-DNA varying in size between 80 and 180 kilobase-pair. The genomes of more than fourty-one baculoviruses have been sequenced to ...date. The majority of these (37) are pathogenic to lepidopteran hosts; three infect sawflies (Hymenoptera) and one has a mosquito host (Diptera). With this information, general patterns of genome structure and gene content became apparent. Baculovirus open reading frames are tightly packed with minimal intergenic regions and the coding sequences are almost equally distributed over both strands. Baculovirus genes form single transcription units, with early and late transcribed ORFs scattered along the genome. A set of twenty nine core genes is conserved and therefore is characteristic for baculoviruses. Most baculovirus genomes contain multiple homologous regions with repeated sequences and often palindromic motifs, which play a crucial role as enhancers of early transcription and most likely in viral DNA replication. Baculovirus genomes have a certain degree of plasticity, as evidenced from the genomic variations within virus isolates from the field. Recombination events and transposon insertions appear to play a role in the uptake of new genes from co-infecting viruses or from the insect host. This review deals with the structural and functional properties of baculovirus genomes including both conserved and variable genes.
ABSTRACT
Microorganisms are intentionally added at different stages of the food and feed chain (food or feed additive, novel food or plant protection product) and are subjected to regulation and ...safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority. Safety evaluation is based on application dossiers for market authorisation to the European Commission. The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) concept was developed in 20032 to provide a harmonised generic safety pre-appraisal of the above microorganisms. Unambiguously defined biological taxonomic units (TUs) are assessed for their body of knowledge, their safety and their end use. Identified safety concerns for a certain TU can be, where reasonable in number and not universally present, reflected as ‘qualifications.’ Strains belonging to TUs having QPS status may benefit of a fast track evaluation. The lowest TU for which the QPS status is granted is the species level for bacteria and yeasts and the family for viruses. The QPS concept is also applicable to genetically modified microorganisms used for production purposes. Based on the current body of knowledge and/or the ambiguous taxonomic position, some TUs, such as filamentous fungi, bacteriophages, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Streptomyces spp. and Oomycetes, are not considered liable for QPS status.
Mutation rates are of key importance for understanding evolutionary processes and predicting their outcomes. Empirical mutation rate estimates are available for a number of RNA viruses, but few are ...available for DNA viruses, which tend to have larger genomes. Whilst some viruses have very high mutation rates, lower mutation rates are expected for viruses with large genomes to ensure genome integrity. Alphabaculoviruses are insect viruses with large genomes and often have high levels of polymorphism, suggesting high mutation rates despite evidence of proofreading activity by the replication machinery. Here, we report an empirical estimate of the mutation rate per base per strand copying (s/n/r) of Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). To avoid biases due to selection, we analyzed mutations that occurred in a stable, non-functional genomic insert after five serial passages in Spodoptera exigua larvae. Our results highlight that viral demography and the stringency of mutation calling affect mutation rate estimates, and that using a population genetic simulation model to make inferences can mitigate the impact of these processes on estimates of mutation rate. We estimated a mutation rate of μ = 1×10-7 s/n/r when applying the most stringent criteria for mutation calling, and estimates of up to μ = 5×10-7 s/n/r when relaxing these criteria. The rates at which different classes of mutations accumulate provide good evidence for neutrality of mutations occurring within the inserted region. We therefore present a robust approach for mutation rate estimation for viruses with stable genomes, and strong evidence of a much lower alphabaculovirus mutation rate than supposed based on the high levels of polymorphism observed.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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