Sendai Virus Replication: An Ultrastructural Comparison of Productive and Abortive Infections in Avian Cells

Abstract

Production of Sendai virus and virus-induced ultrastructural changes were compared in infected chick embryo lung epithelial cells and chick embryo fibroblast cells. By 48 hr after infection, chick embryo lung cells made 100 times more infectious virus, as measured by plaque assay, than chick embryo fibroblast cells. The chick embryo lung cells showed little cytopathology up to 48 hr, while chick embryo fibroblast cells began to show severe cytopathic changes at 24 hr. Both cell types contained abundant cytoplasmic aggregates of virus nucleocapsids, but budding virus particles were more common on the surfaces of chick embryolung cells. The data indicate that late steps in virus maturation are relatively inefficient in chick embryo fibroblast cells.