Baculoviridae
Baculoviridae is a family of viruses. Arthropods, among the most studied being Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, serve as natural hosts. Currently, 85 species are placed in this family, assigned to four genera.
| Baculoviridae | |
|---|---|
| Baculovirus virions and nucleocapsids | |
| Virus classification | |
| (unranked): | Virus |
| Class: | Naldaviricetes |
| Order: | Lefavirales |
| Family: | Baculoviridae |
| Genera | |
|
Alphabaculovirus | |
Baculoviruses are known to infect insects, with over 600 host species having been described. Immature (larval) forms of lepidopteran species (moths and butterflies) are the most common hosts, but these viruses have also been found infecting sawflies, and mosquitoes. Although baculoviruses are capable of entering mammalian cells in culture, they are not known to be capable of replication in mammalian or other vertebrate animal cells.
Starting in the 1940s, they were used and studied widely as biopesticides in crop fields. Baculoviruses contain a circular, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome ranging from 80 to 180 kbp.