Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Persistently Infects Bursal B Lymphoid DT40 Cells

LAURA DELGUI; DOLORES GONZÁLEZ; JOSÉ F. RODRÍGUEZ

JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY

Society for General Microbiology

Lugar: Marlborough House; Año: 2009 vol. 90 p. 1148 - 1152

0022-1317

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), an important avian pathogen, exhibits an exquisite tropism for immature B lymphocyte cell populations. We have investigated the ability of IBDV to replicate in chicken B lymphoid DT40 cells, a tumor cell line derived from the Fabricius bursa of a chicken infected with avian leukosis virus. Our results show that IBDV persistently infects DT40 cells. The establishment of the persistent infection is associated with an extensive remodeling of the hypervariable region of the VP2 capsid polypeptide accumulating 14 amino acid changes during the first 60 days of the persistent infection. The amino acid sequence of the non-structural VP5 polypeptide, involved in virus dissemination, is not altered during the persistent infection. Results described in this report constitute the first demonstration of the ability of IBDV to establish a persistent infection in vitro