Replication of infectious bursal disease virus in continuous cell lines

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Virology
• Cell Biology
• Animal Health

Background:

• Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a significant pathogen in poultry.
• Effective cell culture models are crucial for studying IBDV replication and developing vaccines.
• Mammalian cell lines offer potential alternatives to traditional avian cell cultures for virological studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the susceptibility of three mammalian continuous cell lines (MA-104, Vero, BGM-70) to IBDV replication.
• To compare the cytopathic effects (CPE) of IBDV in these cell lines with chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cultures.
• To assess the utility of BGM-70 cells for virus-neutralization assays.

Main Methods:

• Inoculation of MA-104, Vero, and BGM-70 cell lines with tissue-culture-adapted IBDV strains (vaccine and field isolates).
• Observation and documentation of cytopathic effects (CPE) in the tested cell lines.
• Comparison of CPE in BGM-70 cells and CEF cultures.
• Determination of virus-neutralization titers using BGM-70 and CEF cultures.

Main Results:

• IBDV replicated successfully in all three tested mammalian cell lines: MA-104, Vero, and BGM-70.
• BGM-70 cells exhibited the most pronounced cytopathic effects upon IBDV infection.
• The CPE observed in BGM-70 cells closely resembled that seen in CEF cultures.
• Virus-neutralization titers determined in BGM-70 cultures showed good correlation with those obtained from CEF cultures.

Conclusions:

• Mammalian cell lines, particularly BGM-70, can effectively support IBDV replication.
• BGM-70 cells demonstrate a high susceptibility to IBDV and can serve as a suitable model for studying viral cytopathology.
• BGM-70 cell cultures are a reliable alternative to CEF cultures for virus-neutralization assays in IBDV research.