APOPTOSIS IN CELL-CULTURES INDUCED BY INFECTIOUS BURSAL DISEASE VIRUSFOLLOWING IN-VITRO INFECTION

Chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) and Vero cells infected with infecti ous bursal disease virus (IBDV) exhibited the biochemical feature of a poptosis. Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA extracted from IBDV-infec ted cells revealed the characteristic laddering pattern of DNA fragmen tation, which was more intense in infected CEFs than in Vero cells. Th e appearance of apoptotic nucleosomal DNA fragments in IBDV-infected C EFs was independent of virus replication and occurred at an early stag e following in vitro infection.