Genomics of Banchine Ichnoviruses:1 Insights into their Relationship to Bracoviruses and Campoplegine Ichnoviruses
Résumé
Ichneumonid polydnaviruses, referred to as ichnoviruses (IVs), have so far been observed in only two parasitic wasp subfamilies, the Campopleginae and Banchinae. The IVs carried by banchine wasps have received limited attention, and most of what we know about them is based on the characterization of a single virus, the Glypta fumiferanae ichnovirus (GfIV). The latter differs considerably from the more extensively studied campoplegine IVs, both in terms of virion morphology and features of the packaged genome. These differences have in fact raised the question as to whether campoplegine and banchine IVs have a common ancestor. The present chapter provides a brief review of the current state of knowledge on banchine IVs, including results from recent genomic analyses. It also provides suggestions as to how to address, in future research, the question of whether the campoplegine and banchine IVs have a common origin.