Abstract

The mulberry leaf-roller, Diaphania pulverulentalis (Hampson) is a major defoliator pest of mulberry in sericultural tracts of Karnataka, India. A nuclear polyhedrosis virus isolated from D. pulverulentalis larvae was analysed via its polyhedrin gene, which was amplified from DpNPV DNA in polymerase chain reaction using degenerate set of primers and the sequence was analysed phylogenetically with other polyhedrin genes. The analysis revealed that DpNPV was closely related to Galleria mellonella NPV, Plutella maculipennis NPV and Autographa californica NPV and Autographa biloba NPV and distinct from Bombyx mori NPV.

Keywords: Diaphania pulverulentalis, nuclear polyhedrosis virus, polyhedrin gene, phylogenetic analysis.