Abstract

This work identified a novel rhabdo-like virus in a Chinese black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon), which we tentatively named “Agrotis ipsilon virus” (AIpsV). The complete genome of AIpsV is 15,454 nucleotides in length and contains seven open reading frames, collectively encoding more than 160 amino acids. The AIpsV genome is predicted to encode three structural proteins, nucleoprotein (N), glycoprotein (G), and large polymerase protein (L), and four unknown proteins. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the AIpsV clusters with Wuhan ant virus and Hubei rhabdo-like virus 1 within the rhabdo-like virus clade. The level of expression of AIpsV genes was found to be higher in the pupal and adult stages than in the egg and larval stages.