RNA-Seq of the Spodoptera frugiperda ascovirus-1a (SfAV-1a) infecting 3rd instar Spodoptera frugiperda caterpillars in vivo. Spodoptera frugiperda ascovirus 1a

Purpose: we targeted the transcription profile of two types of SfAV-1a genes, first, we targeted, core genes that occur in several ascovirus species, second, we targeted, genes predicted by in silico analysis to have metabolic functions likely involved in synthesizing viral vesicle membranes, the distinguishing feature of ascovirus cytopathology. Overall design: Method: we used a wild type strain of the Spodoptera frugiperda ascovirus-1a (SfAV-1a), the type species for the family Ascoviridae. This strain was used to infect 3rd instar caterpillars of Spodoptera frugiperda, and all transcriptome data were derived from this developmental stage using the HiSeq2500 sequencer (Illumina) in the UCR Core Facility in the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, in duplicate. The RT-qPCR used for validation using the iQ™ SYBR® Green Supermix (BIORAD).