A new RNA picorna-like virus in the cotton pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in Egypt

A new virus infecting the pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella has been detected and purified from dead larvae collected from naturally infested cotton fields. The purified icosahedric virions measured 27 plus or minus 1 nm in diameter and contained RNA genome. Three capsid proteins of 31.7, 32.6 and 47.4 Kd have been separated on polyacrylamide gel. The purified virus was not highly infectious to the host larvae revealed while the pupal period survived from infected larvae was significantly prolonged. The virus particles infecting the midgut cells are grouped in paracrystallin arrays. The virus was vertically transmitted through infected adults. The main characteristics of this virus place are quite relative to the Picornavirus group.