These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: The natural genetic engineering of polydnaviruses.
    Author: Webb B, Fisher T, Nusawardani T.
    Journal: Ann N Y Acad Sci; 2009 Oct; 1178():146-56. PubMed ID: 19845635.
    Abstract:
    The polydnaviruses represent an unusual example of a highly evolved symbiosis between some parasitic wasps, DNA containing particles or viruses, and lepidopteran larval hosts of the wasp. The viruses can no longer replicate independently, as genes that encode viral structural proteins are restricted to the wasp genome and are not encapsidated. Interestingly, the DNA that is encapsidated is more similar in terms of gene identity and gene density to eukaryotic genomes than viral genomes. We compare and relate this unusual example of natural genetic engineering to the well-known system of viral lysogeny. The similarities in the two systems may prove useful in understanding the replication strategy and genomic organization of polydnaviruses and provide some insight into how this unusual virus system may have evolved.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]