SUSCEPTIBILITY OF LEPIDOPTERAN CELL-LINES TO A SPODOPTERA-EXIGUA (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE) NUCLEAR POLYHEDROSIS-VIRUS

Spodoptera exigua nuclear polyhedrosis virus (SeNPV) was examined for replication in 20 continuous cell lines from eight lepidopteran specie s; Spodoptera frugiperda, Spodoptera littoralis, Spodoptera litura, Sp odoptera exigua, Pseudaletia separata, Mamestra brassicae, Plutella xy lostella, and Bombyx mori. Of these, only five homologous cell lines, established from S. exigua, were permissive for infection with the vir us. The growth kinetics of SeNPV in S. exigua Se3FH cells showed that extracellular viruses were released from infected cells 6 h p.i. and r eached a maximal titer 72 h p.i. The number of polyhedral inclusion bo dies (PIBs) reached a maximum of 10(7) PIBs/ml 96 h p.i.