Williams Trevor
Instituto de Ecología AC, Xalapa, Veracruz 91073, Mexico.
Insects. 2025 May 26;16(6):562. doi: 10.3390/insects16060562.
Nucleopolyhedroviruses of lepidopteran larvae (, ) form the basis for effective and highly selective biological insecticides for the control of caterpillar pests of greenhouse and field crops and forests. Horizontal transmission is usually achieved following the release of large quantities of viral occlusion bodies (OBs) from virus-killed insects. In the present review, I examine the evidence for productive midgut infection in different host species and the resulting transmission through the release of OBs in the feces (frass) of the host. This has been a neglected aspect of virus transmission since it was initially studied over six decades ago. The different host-virus pathosystems vary markedly in the quantity of OBs released in feces and in their ability to contaminate the host's food plant. The release of fecal OBs tends to increase over time as the infection progresses. Although based on a small number of studies, the prevalence of transmission of fecal inoculum is comparable with that of recognized alternative routes for transmission and dissemination, such as cannibalism and interactions with predators and parasitoids. Finally, I outline a series of predictions that would affect the importance of OBs in feces as a source of inoculum in the environment and which could form the basis for future lines of research.
鳞翅目幼虫的核型多角体病毒是用于防治温室、大田作物及森林中毛虫类害虫的高效且高选择性生物杀虫剂的基础。水平传播通常是在大量病毒包涵体从被病毒杀死的昆虫体内释放后实现的。在本综述中，我研究了不同宿主物种中中肠发生有效感染的证据，以及由此通过宿主粪便中包涵体的释放而实现的传播。自六十多年前首次研究以来，这一直是病毒传播中被忽视的一个方面。不同的宿主 - 病毒病理系统在粪便中释放的包涵体数量及其污染宿主食用植物的能力方面存在显著差异。随着感染的进展，粪便中包涵体的释放量往往会随时间增加。尽管基于少数研究，但粪便接种物的传播发生率与公认的其他传播和扩散途径（如同类相食以及与捕食者和寄生蜂的相互作用）相当。最后，我概述了一系列预测，这些预测将影响粪便中包涵体作为环境中接种物来源的重要性，并可为未来的研究方向奠定基础。
