Comparative analysis of the morphogenesis of the Getah virus in cell cultures of vertebrates and mosquitoes
Lisak, V.M.; Korolev, M.B.; Chunikhin, S.P.; Izotov, V.K.
Voprosy Virusologii 2: 137-142
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0507-4088 PMID: 34927 Document Number: 150768
Reproduction of Getah virus (the genus Alphavirus) in piglet kidney (PK) and A. aegypti mosquito cell cultures was studied morphologically. Inoculation of PK cells resulted in the development of a lytic infection. Virus morphogenesis in these cells showed the features known for other alphaviruses. In mosquito cell cultures persistent infection developed which was not accompanied by any marked changes in morphology or proliferative activity of the culture. All the morphological and cytochemical data indicate that a certain role in the establishment and maintenance of virus persistence in A. aegypti cell culture may be played by exo- and endophagocytic processes owing to which a peculiar "self-purification" of the cells from the virus and its components occurs. Incubation of the persistently infected culture of mosquito cells at a suboptimal temperature resulted in a marked reduction in the number of newly formed virions which sharply increased with the shift up to the optimal temperature. The experimental results give some insights into certain aspects of alphavirus ecology.