Biopolymers and cell. 2007; 23 (5): 425 - 432

A role of Spodoptera littoralis nuclear polyhedrosis virus envelope protein pif 1 in the process of primary infection of insect midgut

O. Yu. Reviakina, I. M. Kikhno

A role of the envelope protein pif 1 of Spodoptera littoralis nuclear polyhedrosis virus in the process of viral penetration into the midgut columnar cell of the insect has been investigated. It has been shown that pif1 deletion from viral genome does not block viral and cell membrane fusion detected by octadecyl-rhodamin-B-chloride fluorescence dequenching assays. The use of RT PCR techniques allowed to demonstrate that pif1 was predicted to be an executor of some step(s) of viral life cycle upstream of viral DNA entry into the nucleus, presumably such as nucleocapsid internalization, nucleocapsid transport, viral DNA release from capsid and its penetration into the nucleus.

Keywords: virus entry into the cell, baculovirus, pif1.