title: Infectious bursal disease virus persistently infects bursal B-lymphoid DT40 cells.
abstract: Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), an important avian pathogen, exhibits a specific tropism for immature B-lymphocyte populations. We have investigated the ability of IBDV to replicate in chicken B-lymphoid DT40 cells, a tumour cell line derived from the bursa of Fabricius of a chicken infected with avian leukosis virus. Our results show that IBDV persistently infects DT40 cells. Establishment of the persistent infection is associated with an extensive remodelling of the hypervariable region of the VP2 capsid polypeptide, accumulating 14 amino acid changes during the first 60 days of the persistent infection. The amino acid sequence of the non-structural VP5 polypeptide, involved in virus dissemination, is not altered during the persistent infection. Results described in this report constitute the first demonstration of the ability of IBDV to establish a persistent infection in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Celular, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología-CSIC, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Delgui
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Celular, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología-CSIC, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Celular, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología-CSIC, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000821:virology*; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000166:cytology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002645:Chickens; D007243:Infectious bursal disease virus / Q000502:physiology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C082513:VP2 protein, infectious bursal disease virus; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins