Baculoviruses: Sophisticated Pathogens of Insects
Figure 2
Baculovirus-induced climbing behavior, historically known as “Wipfelkrankheit” (tree top disease), has been attributed to the viral egt gene.
Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae that were infected with wild type L. dispar MNPV (LdMNPV) (A) demonstrated increased climbing behavior compared to a mutant of LdMNPV lacking the egt gene (B) [8]. This evolutionary adaptation is thought to aid in virus dispersal after death of the larvae, resulting in increased dispersal of occluded virus to the rest of the vegetation below.