A persistent infection in MDCK cells by an influenza type B virus

A persistent infection in Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells by an influenza B virus (B/Tecumseh/63/80) has been established and characterized. Virus recovered from the persistent state titrated lower in relation to the parental wild-type (wt) that initiated the infection as measured by hemagglutination and egg and tissue culture infectious dose, suggesting that the virus is a less cytopathic variant of the original wt virus. The persistent virus (pv) has decreased cytopathology for both MDCK and primary chick kidney (PCK) cell lines, and exhibits different RNA and protein electrophoretic migrations. Plaques of the persistent virus are smaller and take longer to appear, indicating that the pv is a slower growing variant of the wt. The small plaque mutant phenotype may play a role in the maintenance of the persistent infection in MDCK cells. The pv differs from the wt antigenically and in its ability to form deposits of uric acid-like crystals beneath the culture monolayers.