Unusual Baculovirus of the Parasitoid Wasp Apanteles melanoscelus : Isolation and Preliminary Characterization

Abstract
A baculovirus present in the female reproductive tract of the parasitoid wasp A. melanoscelus was isolated and partially characterized. Viral DNA is double stranded, circular and of highly variable MW ranging from 2 .times. 106-25 .times. 106; the DNA is of homogeneous density at .rho. = 1.694 g/ml. Acrylamide gels resolve 18 polypeptide bands in the case of purified virions; 4-5 of these appear in a semipurified nucleocapsid preparation. The electrophoretic profiles obtained are compared with those of 2 other baculoviruses.