Replication of Heliothis virescens ascovirus in insect cell lines

Ascoviruses (AVs) infect larvae of various insect pests belonging to the family Noctuidae. The result of AV infection in the hosts is cleavage of infected cells into vesicles, a unique feature of AV infection. Since insect cell lines facilitate the study of virus life cycles, attempts were made to analyze Heliothis virescens AV (HvAV3e) infection in several cell lines and compare cell pathology to larval infection. In this study, replication and cytopathological effects of HvAV3e on four different cell lines were investigated. HvAV3e replication was confirmed in three noctuid cell lines from Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) and Helicoverpa zea (BCIRL-Hz-AM1 and FB33). However, the virus did not replicate in the non-noctuid insect cell line from Pieris rapae (Pieridae). Despite replication of the virus in the three permissive cell lines, the cytopathological effects of the virus were significantly different from that of larval infection.