ANTICARSIA-GEMMATALIS NUCLEAR POLYHEDROSIS-VIRUS REPLICATION IN SERUM-FREE AND SERUM-REDUCED INSECT-CELL CULTURES

In order to develop a financially feasible process to produce Anticars ia gemmatalis Nuclear Polyhedrosis virus in cell culture, we developed a lipidic supplement to replace fetal calf serum in insect cell cultu re media. The supplement, prepared with an extract of lipids from hen egg yolk, allowed us to reduce the contents of serum in the culture me dium from 10% to 1%. IPLB-Sf-21 cells could be kept along consecutive passages in serum-reduced medium. The replication of AgNPV in HEYLE-su pplemented cultures was evaluated. Extracellular virions production wa s the same as in FCS-supplemented-cultures, but the production level o f polyhedral inclusion bodies was significantly lowered in HEYLE-suppl emented cultures. The reduced production of PIBs is related to a prema ture releasing of non-occluded particles as well as to a reduced synth esis of polyhedrin protein.