Persistence of Marek's disease virus in a subpopulation of B cells that is transformed by avian leukosis virus, but not in normal bursal B cells.
Previous studies have described an augmentation of avian leukosis virus (ALV)-induced lymphoid leukosis in chickens that were coinfected with a serotype 2 Marek's disease virus (MDV) strain, SB-1. As a first step toward understanding the mechanism of this augmentation, we have analyzed the tropism of the MDV for the ALV-transformed B cell. After hatching, chickens were coinfected with ALV and a nonpathogenic strain of MDV, SB-1. Seventy primary and metastatic ALV-induced lymphomas that developed in chickens between 14 and 20 weeks of age were found, with only one exception, to carry SB-1 DNA. The MDV genome was maintained in cell lines derived from the tumors. However, MDV DNA could not be detected in nontransformed bursal B cells from chickens carrying ALV lymphomas. Moreover, during and after the lytic phase of MDV infection, SB-1 DNA was near or below the level of detection in bursal cells, suggesting that MDV most likely infects only a small subpopulation of bursal cells. By contrast, ALV-transformed B cells from MDV-free chickens could be persistently infected with MDV in vitro. These findings indicate that ALV lymphoma cells, unlike nontransformed bursal B cells, are susceptible to persistent MDV infection and can serve as a reservoir of MDV that can potentially influence the physiology of the transformed cell.
Fynan
E
E
Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107.
Block
T M
TM
DuHadaway
J
J
Olson
W
W
Ewert
D L
DL
D000818:Animals; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002645:Chickens; D004279:DNA, Viral; D008381:Herpesvirus 2, Gallid / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010957:Plasmids
D004279:DNA, Viral