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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #395976
Research Project: Sustainable Insect Pest Management for Urban Agriculture and Landscapes

Location: Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory

Title: Identification and analysis of putative tRNA genes in baculovirus genomes

Author
item OLIVEIRA, HUGO D - University Of Brasilia
item Harrison, Robert - Bob
item RIBEIRO, BERGMANN - University Of Brasilia
item ARDISSON-ARAUJO, DANIEL M - Universidade Federal De Santa Maria

Submitted to: Virus Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/27/2022
Publication Date: 9/28/2022
Citation: Oliveira, H.P., Harrison, R.L., Ribeiro, B.M., Ardisson-Araujo, D.P. 2022. Identification and analysis of putative tRNA genes in baculovirus genomes. Virus Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres. 322; Article 198949
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2022.198949

Interpretive Summary: Baculoviruses are a group of insect viruses that have been developed and used as environmentally safe, non-toxic biological pesticides. Studies on the genomes of baculoviruses have focused on standard protein-encoding genes, but viruses sometimes also possess genes that specify the production of transfer RNA (tRNA) instead of protein. To identify tRNA genes in baculovirus genomes, a bioinformatic analysis was carried out on all baculovirus genome sequences currently available. Ninety-four out of 256 baculovirus genomes were found to contain at least one tRNA gene. The locations, sizes, and putative regulatory regions of these tRNA genes were characterized. The information in this study contributes to our knowledge of the genetic factors that may control the ability of baculoviruses to infect and kill insect pests, and will be of interest to those in academia, government, and industry who work with baculoviruses.

Technical Abstract: tRNA genes are both coded for and arranged along viral genomes representing the entire virosphere and seem to play different biological functions during infection, other than transferring the correct amino acid to a growing peptide chain. Baculovirus genome description and annotation has focused mostly on protein-coding genes, microRNA, and homologous regions. Here we carried out a large-scale in silico search for putative tRNA genes in baculovirus genomes. Ninety-four out of 256 baculovirus genomes analyzed were found to contain at least one putative tRNA gene. We found great diversity in primary and secondary structure, in location within the genome, in intron presence and size, and in anti-codon identity. In some cases, genes of genomes containing tRNAs were found to contain a bias for the codons specified by the tRNAs present in the such genomes. Moreover, analysis revealed that most of the putative tRNA genes possessed conserved motifs for tRNA type 2 promoters, including the A-box and B-box motifs. Therefore, it is possible that the putative baculoviral tRNAs genes are transcribed, and further research is needed to confirm expression and functionality of these tRNAs during infection.