Production of Defective Genomes of the Bombyx mori Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus by Serial Passage through Cultured Cells

Abstract

A plaque-purified Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus, BmNPV D1 isolate, was propagated for 30 generations by serial undiluted passages in BmN4 cells. During the passages, a few polyhedra phenotypes and defective viral genomes were generated. By contrast, the population of wild type polyhedra and genomes decreased. The main component of defective genomes contained most of the interspersed homologous sequences of the baculovirus genomes.