Enhanced infection of an entomopoxvirus in larvae of the armyworm, Pseudaletia separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), by a granulovirus

To determine the interaction of Pseudaletia unipuncta granulovirus and Pseudaletia separata entomopoxvirus, larvae of the armyworm, P separata, were perorally administered graded doses of entomopoxvirus occlusion bodies, spheroids, in the presence or absence of granulovirus occlusion bodies, capsules. The presence of capsules in the inocula enhanced entomopoxvirus infection. In doubly infected larvae, the inclusion bodies and virions of the two viruses coexisted in the same fatbody but never occurred in the same cells. The granulovirus appeared to facilitate entomopoxvirus infection at the organismal level, although the two viruses interfered with each other at the cellular level.