Isolation and characterization of an immunosuppressive protein from venom of the pupa-specific endoparasitoid Pteromalus puparum

Pteromalus puparum venom impairs host cellular immune responses by decreasing expression of its scavenger receptor gene

“…Venom collection was described by Wu et al (2008). Five hundred glands and reservoirs were transferred to a sterilized 1.5 ml Eppendorf tube and centrifuged at 12,000Âg for 20 min at 4 C. The supernatant was collected and then filtered through a 0.22 mm cellulose acetate filter.…”

“…P. puparum and its pupal host P. rapae comprise a model system for investigating the influence of venom, without the confounding influence of PDVs, on host biology (Cai et al, 2004;Zhu et al, 2008). P. puparum venom causes substantial alteration of total number and morphology of host hemocytes (Ye et al, 2007), and inhibits host cellular immune responses, including hemocyte spreading (Zhang et al, 2005) and encapsulation (Cai et al, 2004;Wu et al, 2008). However, the mechanisms of P. puparum venom actions on its host hemocytes are not completely understood.…”

The parasitoid factor in the virulence and spread of lepidopteran baculoviruses

“…Laboratory and field assessments have verified that parasitoids can mechanically transmit lepidopteran baculoviruses between hosts (33,45). More recent studies have begun to recognize the ways in which hymenopteran parasitoids can manipulate the host' s immune systems, suggesting the facilitation of viral pathogenesis in previously less susceptible hosts (54,57). This review will attempt to summarize the recorded and potential impact that primarily hymenopteran parasitoids may have on specifically lepidopteran baculoviruses.…”

Characterization of an abaecin-like antimicrobial peptide identified from a Pteromalus puparum cDNA clone

“…Pteromalus puparum (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is a predominant pupal endoparasitoid wasp of Pieris rapae (cabbageworm). Over the last several years, we have been investigating the interactions between P. puparum and P. rapae, and demonstrated that the venom of P. puparum contains a rich array of peptides, including those with biological activity (Cai et al, 2004;Zhang et al, 2005;Wu et al, 2008). In this report, we describe further characterization of an abaecin-like AMP identified previously from a P. puparum cDNA clone (Cheng et al, 2009).…”