Ultrastructural observations of polyoma infected Friend erythroleukemic cells
Taddei, C.; Delli Bovi, P.; Giordano, R.; Amati, P.
Microbiologica 5(4): 333-340
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0391-5352 PMID: 6296637 Document Number: 195191
Friend erythroleukemic cells (FLC) infected by Polyoma (Py) virus were studied at the electron microscope both during their lytic cycle, which occurs within the first 96 hr after infection, and in the surviving stabilized cells 30 days after infection. The results showed that the Polyoma virus and Friend leukemic virus (FLV) coexist and mature together in the same cell. During the lytic cycle, the Py particles were scattered in the nucleoplasm, and sometimes they were also found aggregated into crystals. Instead crystalline aggregates of Py particles were always present in the few surviving virus-carrying cells 30 days after infection. A possible interpretation could be that the crystal aggregation serves to maintain the viruses in a latency that allows the survival of the host cells.