Genomics of Banchine Ichnoviruses: Insights into their relationship to Bracoviruses and Campoplegine Ichnoviruses

This chapter provides an overview of the limited amount of work that has been conducted on the genomics of banchine ichnoviruses (IVs), all of which is based on the analysis of a single genome, i.e. that of the Glypta fumiferanae ichnovirus. It also provides more recent analyses and preliminary findings from ongoing studies aimed at characterizing GfIV and elucidating the question of whether campoplegine and banchine IVs have a common origin. Ichneumonid polydnaviruses, referred to as 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.