A new Helicoverpa armigera Nucleopolyhedrovirus isolate from Heliothis peltigera (Denis & Schiffermuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Turkey.

This study reports a new Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) isolated from Heliothis peltigera (Denis & Schiffermuller), collected in the vicinity of Adana, Turkey. Infection was confirmed by tissue polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis. Results showed that dead H. peltigera larvae contain Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus. Thus, the isolate was named as HearNPV-TR. Microscopy studies indicated that occlusion bodies were 0.73 to 1.66 μm in diameter. The nucleocapsids are approximately 184 × 41 nm in size. The genome of HearNPV-TR was digested with KpnI and XhoI enzymes and calculated as 130.5 kb. Phylogenetic analysis showed that HearNPV-TR has close relation with the H. armigera SNPV-1073 China isolate. The Kimura analysis confirmed that the isolate is a variant of H. armigera NPV. Bioassays were performed using six different concentrations (1 × 10³ to 1 × 10⁸ occlusion bodies (OBs)/mL) on 2nd instar larvae of H. peltigera, H. armigera, Heliothis viriplaca, Heliothis nubigera. LC₅₀ values were calculated to be 9.5 × 10³, 1.9 × 10⁴, 8.6 × 10⁴ and 9.2 × 10⁴ OBs/mL within 14 days, respectively. Results showed that it is a promising biocontrol agent against Heliothinae species.