AcMNPV
AcMNPV is a member of the Baculoviridae family, a large dsDNA virus that infects insects, particularly lepidopteran larvae. It stands for Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus. It was first isolated from the alfalfa looper (Autographa californica) and has become a model organism for baculovirus studies. The virus is classified as a group II nucleopolyhedrovirus and is characterized by two virion forms: budded viruses (BV) for cell-to-cell spread within the host and occlusion-derived viruses (ODV) for oral infection.
The genome of AcMNPV is a single circular dsDNA molecule of approximately 134 kilobase pairs, encoding over
AcMNPV has been widely used as a eukaryotic expression vector in biotechnology. Its polyhedrin promoter drives
Research on AcMNPV has contributed to understanding of viral gene regulation, host–pathogen interactions, and insect immunity.
Overall, AcMNPV remains a cornerstone of baculovirology and a versatile tool in molecular biology and biotechnology.