Parasitoids are parasitic insects that kill their insect hosts in immature pre-reproductive stages. Parasitoids are employed in biological control programs worldwide to kill insect pests and are environmentally safe and benign alternatives to chemical pesticides. As resistance to chemical pesticides continues to escalate in many pest populations, attention is now refocusing on biologically-based strategies to control pest species in agriculture and forestry as well as insect vector populations that transmit human and animal diseases. Parasitoids are an economically critical element in this equation and ‘integrated pest management.’
Viruses have evolved intimate associations with parasitoids, and this book features sections on both symbiotic viruses that are integrated into the wasp’s chromosomal DNA (polydnaviruses) that play critical roles in suppressing host immunity during parasitism. A separate section with additional chapters on viral pathogens that infect parasitoids to cause disease and act as detrimental agents that limit effectiveness of wasp species employed in biological control of pests is also featured. A third component is a section on parasitoid venoms, which are of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical communities as well as insect-oriented biologists.
Parasitoid Virus Symbionts and Venoms Jean-Michel and Nancy Beckage, editors The Discovery of the Polydnaviruses and the Influence of Dr. George Salt S. Bradleigh Vinson SECTION 1: PARASITOID POLYDNAVIRUSES: EVOLUTION, GENOMICS, AND SYSTEMATICS PART I: INSIGHTS INTO POLYDNAVIRUS EVOLUTION AND GENOMICS 1. The Origins and Early History of Polydnavirus Research Peter J. Krell and Don B. Stoltz 2. Evolutionary Progenitors of Bracoviruses Jean-Michel Drezen, Elisabeth Herniou, and Annie Bézier 3. The Organization of Genes Encoding Ichnovirus Structural Proteins Anne-Nathalie Volkoff, Jean-Michel Drezen, Michel Cusson and Bruce A. Webb 4. Genomics and Replication of Polydnaviruses Catherine Dupuy, Dawn Gundersen-Rindal, and Michel Cusson 5. Evolution and origin of polydnavirus virulence genes Elisabeth Huguet, Céline Serbielle and Sébastien JM Moreau 6. Genomics of banchine ichnoviruses: insights into their relationship to bracoviruses and campoplegine ichnoviruses Michel Cusson, Don Stoltz, Renée Lapointe, Catherine Béliveau, Audrey Nisole, A.-Nathalie Volkoff, Jean-Michel Drezen, Halim Maaroufi, Roger C. Levesque 7. Molecular Systematics of Wasp and Polydnavirus Genomes and their Co-evolution James Whitfield and Jaqueline M. O’Connor 8. Integration of Polydnavirus DNA into Host Cellular Genomic DNA Dawn Gundersen-Rindal 9. Unusual Viral Genomes: Mimivirus and the Polydnaviruses Christopher A. Desjardins 10. Maintenance of Specialized Parasitoid Populations by Polydnaviruses Antoine Branca, Catherine Gitau, and Stéphane Dupas PART II: THE BIOLOGICAL ROLES OF POLYDNAVIRUS GENE PRODUCTS 11. Polydnavirus Gene Expression Profiling: What We Know Now Michael R. Strand 12. Polydnavirus Gene Products That Interact with the Host Immune System Michael R. Strand 13. Polydnaviruses as Endocrine Regulators Nancy Beckage 14. The Orchestrated Manipulation of the Host by Chelonus inanitus and its Polydnavirus Beatrice Lanzrein, Rita Pfister-Wilhelm, Martha Kaeslin, Gabriela Wespi and Thomas Roth SECTION 2: UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES OF VIRUSES AND VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES ASSOCIATED WITH PARASITOIDS 15. Diversity of Virus-Like Particles in Parasitoids' Venom : Viral or Cellular Origin ? Jean-luc Gatti, Antonin Schmitz, Dominique Colinet, Marylène Poirié 16. RNA viruses in parasitoid wasps Sylvaine Renault 17. An Inherited Virus Manipulating the Behaviour of Its Parasitoid Host: Epidemiology and Evolutionary Consequences Julien Varaldi, Julien Martinez, Sabine Patot, David Lepetit, Frédéric Fleury, and Sylvain Gandon SECTION 3: VENOMS OF PARASITOIDS 18. Venoms from Endoparasitoids Sassan Asgari 19. Proteomics of the Venom of the Parasitoid Nasonia vitripennis Ellen M. Formesyn, Ellen L. Danneels and Dirk C. de Graaf 20. Aphid Parasitoid Venom and Its Role in Host Regulation Francesco Pennacchio and Donato Mancini 21. When Parasitoids Lack Polydnaviruses, Can Venoms Subdue the Hosts ? The Study Case of Asobara Species Geneviève Prevost, Patrice Eslin, Anas Cherqui, Sébastien Moreau, Géraldine Doury SECTION 4: FUTURISTIC VISIONS 22. Applications of Parasitoid Virus and Venom Research in Agriculture Francesco Pennacchio, Barbara Giordana, Rosa Rao EPILOGUE: The Legacy of George Salt, Pioneer in Parasitoid Virology, and Prospects for the Future of Parasitoid Polydnavirus and Venom Research. (Jean-Michel Drezen and Nancy Beckage )
Reviews for Parasitoid Viruses: Symbionts and Pathogens
"""To avoid over use of pesticides, biological control programs employ the more environmentally safe alternative of parasitoids, which are insects that kill their insect hosts in pre-reproductive stages. At work are viruses that have evolved intimate associations with parasitoids<-->symbiotic viruses integrated into the wasp chromosomal DNA (polydnaviruses), and parasitoid venoms, which are of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical communities. The subject has been addressed in journals, but the editors perceived that this field was ripe for a book-length publication. Beckage (emerita; entomology, cell biology, neuroscience, U. of California- Riverside) and Drezen (insect biology, Université Francois Rabelais, France) enlisted 22 contributed chapters and arranged material in sections on parasitoid polydnaviruses<-->evolution, genomics, and systematics; unique attributes of viruses and virus-like particles associated with parasitoids; venoms; and the future<-->applications in agriculture. Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier.""--Reference and Research Book News, October 2012"
