The establishment of new cell lines from Pseudaletia unipuncta with differential responses to baculovirus infection

Six insect cell lines from Pseudaletia unipuncta embryos were established a nd characterized, and their susceptibility to Autographa californica multip le nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) infection was investigated. These em bryonic P. unipuncta cell lines had characteristics distinct from each othe r in morphology and growth, and showed differential responses to AcMNPV inf ection. Among the six cell lines, two were highly susceptible to virus infe ction. One of these two cell lines, BTI-Pu-A7S, produced over 100 AcMNPV oc clusion bodies per cell, on average. Three cell lines showed an apoptotic r esponse following AcMNPV infection. One cell line did not support complete virus replication through the late phase of virus growth and did not exhibi t apoptosis. The P. unipuncta cell lines could be distinguished from SF21 a nd BTI-Tn-5B1-4 cells by their isozyme markers.