Co-Phylogeny Between Polydnaviruses & Braconid Parasi- toid Wasps

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This will try to identify homologous regions of the polydnaviruses from different parasitic wasp groups in an attempt to determine the phylogenetic affinities of the viruses. These trees can then be compared to those of the wasps for congruence testing. The polydnavirus association with the wasps is an extremely interesting relationship and represents the only known example of mutualism between eukaryotes and viruses. It appears that the virus is necessary for the wasp to successfully complete its lifecycle since the products that it produces successfully suppresses the host immune response to the parasitoids. A determination of when this trait arose and if it is lineage specific would be highly valuable to a wide range of individuals in the scientific community and may also have wide ranging effects in the insect control community. The procedures to be attempted are new and offer a high potential return if the project is successful.