Parasitoids are parasitic insects that kill their insect hosts in immature pre-reproductive stages. Parasitoids are employed in biological control programs worldwide to kill insect pests and are environmentally safe and benign alternatives to chemical pesticides. As resistance to chemical pesticides continues to escalate in many pest populations, attention is now refocusing on biologically-based strategies to control pest species in agriculture and forestry as well as insect vector populations that transmit human and animal diseases. Parasitoids are an economically critical element in this equation and 'integrated pest management.'

Viruses have evolved intimate associations with parasitoids, and this book features sections on both symbiotic viruses that are integrated into the wasp's chromosomal DNA (polydnaviruses) that play critical roles in suppressing host immunity during parasitism. A separate section with additional chapters on viral pathogens that infect parasitoids to cause disease and act as detrimental agents that limit effectiveness of wasp species employed in biological control of pests is also featured. A third component is a section on parasitoid venoms, which are of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical communities as well as insect-oriented biologists.

• Sections focus on both virus evolution and genomics as well as proteomics and functional roles of polydnavirus-encoded gene products
• International researchers and emerging leaders in their fields provide readers with syntheses of the latest research
• Includes content on both symbiotic viruses and pathogenic viruses, plus new research on parasitoid venoms
• Cutting-edge section on future directions in the field covers the impacts of polydnavirus research on medicine, human health, bioengineering and the economy, increasing the value for researchers and practitioners who need to stay on top of the research in this swiftly moving field

Parasitoid Virus Symbionts and Venoms
Jean-Michel and Nancy Beckage, editors
The Discovery of the Polydnaviruses and the Influence of Dr. George Salt
S. Bradleigh Vinson
SECTION 1: PARASITOID POLYDNAVIRUSES: EVOLUTION, GENOMICS, AND SYSTEMATICS
PART I: INSIGHTS INTO POLYDNAVIRUS EVOLUTION AND GENOMICS
1. The Origins and Early History of Polydnavirus Research
Peter J. Krell and Don B. Stoltz
2. Evolutionary Progenitors of Bracoviruses
Jean-Michel Drezen, Elisabeth Herniou, and Annie Bézier
3. The Organization of Genes Encoding Ichnovirus Structural Proteins
Anne-Nathalie Volkoff, Jean-Michel Drezen, Michel Cusson and Bruce A. Webb
4. Genomics and Replication of Polydnaviruses
Catherine Dupuy, Dawn Gundersen-Rindal, and Michel Cusson
5. Evolution and origin of polydnavirus virulence genes
Elisabeth Huguet, Céline Serbielle and Sébastien JM Moreau
6. Genomics of banchine ichnoviruses: insights into their relationship to bracoviruses and campoplegine ichnoviruses
Michel Cusson, Don Stoltz, Renée Lapointe, Catherine Béliveau, Audrey Nisole, A.-Nathalie Volkoff, Jean-Michel Drezen, Halim Maaroufi, Roger C. Levesque
7. Molecular Systematics of Wasp and Polydnavirus Genomes and their Co-evolution
James Whitfield and Jaqueline M. O'Connor
8. Integration of Polydnavirus DNA into Host Cellular Genomic DNA
Dawn Gundersen-Rindal
9. Unusual Viral Genomes: Mimivirus and the Polydnaviruses
Christopher A. Desjardins
10. Maintenance of Specialized Parasitoid Populations by Polydnaviruses
Antoine Branca, Catherine Gitau, and Stéphane Dupas
PART II: THE BIOLOGICAL ROLES OF POLYDNAVIRUS GENE PRODUCTS
11. Polydnavirus Gene Expression Profiling: What We Know Now
Michael R. Strand
12. Polydnavirus Gene Products That Interact with the Host Immune System
Michael R. Strand
13. Polydnaviruses as Endocrine Regulators
Nancy Beckage
14. The Orchestrated Manipulation of the Host by Chelonus inanitus and its Polydnavirus
Beatrice Lanzrein, Rita Pfister-Wilhelm, Martha Kaeslin, Gabriela Wespi and Thomas Roth
SECTION 2: UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES OF VIRUSES AND VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES ASSOCIATED WITH PARASITOIDS
15. Diversity of Virus-Like Particles in Parasitoids' Venom : Viral or Cellular Origin ?
Jean-luc Gatti, Antonin Schmitz, Dominique Colinet, Marylène Poirié
16. RNA viruses in parasitoid wasps
Sylvaine Renault
17. An Inherited Virus Manipulating the Behaviour of Its Parasitoid Host: Epidemiology and Evolutionary Consequences
Julien Varaldi, Julien Martinez, Sabine Patot, David Lepetit, Frédéric Fleury, and Sylvain Gandon
SECTION 3: VENOMS OF PARASITOIDS
18. Venoms from Endoparasitoids
Sassan Asgari
19. Proteomics of the Venom of the Parasitoid Nasonia vitripennis
Ellen M. Formesyn, Ellen L. Danneels and Dirk C. de Graaf
20. Aphid Parasitoid Venom and Its Role in Host Regulation
Francesco Pennacchio and Donato Mancini
21. When Parasitoids Lack Polydnaviruses, Can Venoms Subdue the Hosts ? The Study Case of Asobara Species
Geneviève Prevost, Patrice Eslin, Anas Cherqui, Sébastien Moreau, Géraldine Doury
SECTION 4: FUTURISTIC VISIONS
22. Applications of Parasitoid Virus and Venom Research in Agriculture
Francesco Pennacchio, Barbara Giordana, Rosa Rao
EPILOGUE: The Legacy of George Salt, Pioneer in Parasitoid Virology, and Prospects for the Future of Parasitoid Polydnavirus and Venom Research. (Jean-Michel Drezen and Nancy Beckage )