ICHNOVIRUS INFECTION OF AN ESTABLISHED GYPSY-MOTH CELL-LINE

In the present study, a lepidopteran cell line (Ld-652Y, from the gyps y moth, Lymantria dispar) exposed to Hyposoter fugitivus polydnavirus (HfPV) was found to display a variety of cytopathic effects, These inc luded a transient inhibition of cell proliferation, rounding up, aggre gation and apoptosis. In addition, unusual paracrystalline structures appeared within the lumen of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; similar structures were observed in the spherulocytes of parasitized Malacosom a disstria. Following Coomassie Blue staining, two new cell-associated polypeptides were detected; one of these, an 8 kDa polypeptide, could also be observed following exposure of Ld-652Y cells to media taken f rom infected cultures or to cell-free haemolymph from parasitized M. d isstria. After a period of 2-4 weeks, the L. dispar cell cultures were observed to largely recover from the effects of exposure to virus, an d resumed proliferation; 'transformed' cell populations tended to form aggregates, and adhered less tightly to the substrate. Viral DNA was stably maintained in all recovered cell lines, possibly in chromosomal ly integrated form.