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Genetic engineering of a Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus for expression of foreign genes

Zailin Yu^1,

¹ Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University, Tower Road, Ithaca, New York 14853
and² Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, 51 Mill Pond Road, Hamden, Connecticut 06514, U.S.A.

A bacterial lacZ gene was inserted into an isolate of the Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus (LdMNPV). The transfer vector was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis of the translation start site of the LdMNPV polyhedrin gene, within the BglII E fragment of the viral genome. A multiple cloning sequence was inserted at this start site and used for the insertion of the lacZ gene into the transfer plasmid. Liposome transfection was used to cotransfect L. dispar tissue culture cells with viral DNA and the transfer plasmid. Recombinant LdMNPV isolates were purified by isolation of plaques producing -galactosidase but not polyhedra. Restriction enzyme fragment profiles were used to determine the site of the lacZ gene insertion, and DNA sequencing of the 5' and 3' ends of the lacZ gene insert and the adjoining polyhedrin promoter and coding regions was performed to identify its precise location. Expression of the lacZ gene was examined by studying virus-induced protein using [³⁵S]methionine pulse-labelling, SDS-PAGE fractionation and autoradiography. Expression of -galactosidase was examined in tissue culture cells using colorimetric assays. The maximum rate of -galactosidase production was approximately 50 international units (IU)/10⁶ tissue culture cells/day between 3 and 4 days post-infection (p.i), and the peak total expression was 158 IU/10⁶ cells 5 days p.i. -Galactosidase activity was first detected 48 h p.i. in haemolymph samples from fourth instar L. dispar larvae injected with 10⁶ p.f.u. of virus. The peak -galactosidase activity in larval haemolymph samples was 1931 IU/ml of haemolymph at 11 days p.i., just prior to death.

Present address: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, U.S.A.

Received 22 October 1991; accepted 6 February 1992.

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