Data from: Baculovirus infection triggers a positive phototactic response in caterpillars to induce ‘tree-top’ disease

Many parasites manipulate host behaviour to enhance parasite transmission and survival. A fascinating example is baculoviruses, which often induce death in caterpillar hosts at elevated positions (‘tree-top’ disease). To date, little is known about the underlying processes leading to this adaptive host manipulation. Here, we show that the baculovirus Spodoptera exigua multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SeMNPV) triggers a positive phototactic response in S. exigua larvae prior to death and causes the caterpillars to die at elevated positions. This light-dependent climbing behaviour is specific for infected larvae, as movement of uninfected caterpillars during larval development was light-independent. We hypothesize that upon infection, SeMNPV captures a host pathway involved in phototaxis and/or light perception to induce this remarkable behavioural change.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	van Houte, Stineke, van Oers, Monique, Han, Yue, Vlak, Just, Ros, Vera
Format:	Dataset biblioteca
Published:	Wageningen University & Research
Subjects:	Life Science,
Online Access:	https://research.wur.nl/en/datasets/data-from-baculovirus-infection-triggers-a-positive-phototactic-r-2
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