Molecular analysis of baculovirus regulatory factors involved in viral gene expression, replication, and assembly

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Baculoviruses are large DNA viruses that are specific for arthropods. They have been developed as environmentally sustainable insect control agents, highly successful protein expression vectors and more recently as human gene therapy vectors. They are also excellent model systems for the investigation of eukaryotic gene regulation and mechanisms of viral replication. Baculoviruses contain large genomes that code for many genes and a coordinated expression of the genome is needed to enable these viruses to infect and kill cells. Correct expression of the viral genes requires the action of pivotal viral regulatory genes which are the primary coordinators of viral gene expression and are also required for viral DNA replication. The primary objectives of this study are to understand how viral regulatory proteins work at the molecular level. Correct expression of regulatory proteins is essential to ensure a normal infection and their activities are directly related to viral virulence and host range. This study is also investigating genes specifically required for production of the form of virus which causes spread of an infection from tissue to tissue in diseased insects. Very little is known about how baculoviruses get out of infected cells but we are characterizing at a molecular level viral proteins that may be involved interacting with the cellular structures to facilitate viral transmission. The fundamental knowledge obtained form these studies on how viruses infect and kill cells can be applied to many areas of biology including human medicine. In addition, these investigations could lead to improved environmentally sustainable insect control agents and potentially enhanced protein expression and gene therapy vectors.