Temporal and subcellular localization of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus structural proteins

The temporal subcellular localization of the structural proteins VP2 and VP 3 of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus was analyzed with monoclonal anti bodies conjugated with fluorochromes. Early in the infection both proteins were colocalized in the cytosol, at later times, VP2 was visualized as incl usion bodies around the nuclei of the cells and, sometimes, it was found in elongated tubular structures that might correspond to the type I tubules s een in cells infected with another Birnavirus. As VP2 is a glycosylated pro tein we determined its subcellular localization compared with that of ER an d Golgi probes. These results suggest that VP2 is glycosylated freely in th e cytoplasm.