Efficient MDV & HVT Infection of QM7 cell line that does not contain latent MDV genome.

In this report, we demonstrated that QM7 cells were susceptible to infection with either MDV or HVT (Herpesvirus of turkey, also known as Meleagrid herpesvirus 1, MeHV-1, MDV- 3). PCR analysis with primers amplifying selected MDV genes revealed that QM7 cells did not contain these sequences. However, MDV genes were detected in QT35 cells, which have been reported to harbor latent MDV virus. Transfection of naked MDV DNA initiated efficient infection of QM7 cells. In addition, QM7 cell lysate, clarified supernatant, and QM7 cell pellet infected with MDV were negative for reverse transcriptase activity, indicating absence of endogenous retrovirus. QM7 cells were also found to be free of other avian pathogens in chick embryo inoculation test. In vivo studies of MDV growing in QM7 cells showed the virus retained its pathogenicity and virulence. In ovo experiments demonstrated that both HVT and MDV propagated in QM7 cells did not interfere with hatchability of injected eggs, and viruses could be re-isolated from hatched chicks. The results suggest that QM7 could be a good host cell line for growing both MDV and HVT viruses. PMID: 25204414 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Avian Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Avian Pathol Source Type: research