What is it about?
Some insect viruses are transmitted from parent to offspring. Two viruses from a single taxonomic group were known to kill the male offspring of moths and flies, while having no effect on females. This paper reports the discovery of a virus from an entirely different group that kills males of the tobacco cutworm, a serious pest of various agricultural crops.
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Why is it important?
There are various viruses that are transmitted from parent to offspring in insect lineages. But we know almost nothing about what they do, except for the single group of viruses that kill male hosts. Our discovery of a male-killing virus from a new group of viruses highlights the convergent evolution of the male-killing trait in different viruses.
Perspectives
I have been fascinated to learn how insect symbionts kill or feminize their male hosts. Future challenges to understand the mechanism of virus-induced male killing may lead not only to a deeper understanding of insect sex determination/differentiation, immunity, and development, but also to the development of a novel method to control insect pests.
Daisuke Kageyama
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Male-killing virus in a noctuid moth
Spodoptera litura, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312124120.
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