Densoviruses (DVs) are parvoviruses of arthropods and causative agents of natural epizootics in insects and crustaceans populations. Structurally simple, these small DNA viruses, display a large diversity of genomic sequences, structures and organizations. Such diversity, together with the diversity of their invertebrate hosts, from shrimps to mosquitoes and recently including sea stars, suggests that DVs are largely unknown and ubiquitous in the environment. Densoviruses are considered as a model of choice to study virus-host interactions and their evolution at different scales, from individuals to populations. This review summarizes the knowledge on densovirus biology obtained through mechanistic and global approaches. Finally, the potential use of these viruses as biological control agents against insect pests and disease-vectors are exposed.
Keywords: biological pest control; densonucleosis; epizootics; gut barrier; viral diversity.