Summary
The cause for the long “incubation period” required till the appearance of the CPE in cell cultures inoculated with small amounts of adenovirus was investigated with adenovirus type 5 in HeLa cell cultures. The spread of virus in a culture from cell to cell is minimal, as shown in cultures with antiserum in the medium. The spread by spontaneously released virus via the medium is much more important. It can be accelerated by repeated subcultivation after freezing and thawing the cells in 2 or 3 days' intervals. The quantity of virus produced by one infected HeLa cell was found to be 200 TCID50 within 48 hours, independent of the MOI. The growth cycle too is largely independent of the virus dose. The data suggest that the long duration of the “incubation period” is fully explained by a burst size of 200, a cycle length of 40 to 48 hours and the assumption of a slow and steadily working process of spontaneous release of virus into the medium. Some other possible causes, like impurities in the inoculum or slow and asynchronous early stages of infection, have been ruled out by appropriate experiments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Grayston, J. T., Loosli, C. G., Smith, M., McCarthy, M. A., Johnston, P. B.: Adenoviruses. I. The effect of total incubation time in HeLa cell cultures on the isolation rate. J. inf. Dis.103, 75–95 (1958).
Green, M., Daesch, G. E.: Biochemical studies on adenovirus multiplication. II. Kinetics of nucleic acid and protein synthesis in suspension cultures. Virology13, 169–176 (1961).
Kjellén, L.: Studies on adenoviruses (APC-RI-ARD) in tissue culture. Correlation between the amount of virus inoculated and the time needed for production of cellular degeneration. Arch. ges. Virusforsch.7, 110–119 (1957).
Kjellén, L.: A study of adenovirus-host cell system by the plaque technique. Virology14, 234–239 (1961).
Kron, I., Buchholz, M., Schulz, R., Quintenz, M., Wigand, R.: Laboratoriumspraxis bei Adenoviren. I. Qualitative und quantitative Immunfluoreszenz. Zbl. Bakt. Hyg., I. Abt. Orig. A229, 159–170 (1974).
Pereira, H. G., Allison, A. C., Balfour, B.: Multiplication of adenovirus type 5 studied by infectivity titrations and by the fluorescent antibody technique. Virology7, 300–314 (1959).
Rowe, W. P., Huebner, R. J., Hartley, J. W., Ward, T. G., Parrott, R. H.: Studies of the adenoidal-pharyngeal-conjunctival (APC) group of viruses. Amer. J. Hyg.61, 197–218 (1955).
Wigand, R.: Terminal dilution purification of adenovirus prototypes, and the antigenic relationship between types 4, 16 and 14. Arch. Virol.49, 323–328 (1975).
Wigand, R., Schulz, R.: Laboratoriumspraxis bei Adenoviren. II. Empfindlichkeit verschiedener Zellkulturen bei Endpunkttitration. Zbl. Bakt. Hyg., I. Abt. Orig. A231, 31–41 (1975).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
With 9 Figures
Aided by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wigand, R., Kümel, G. The kinetics of adenovirus infection and spread in cell cultures infected with low multiplicity. Archives of Virology 54, 177–187 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01314784
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01314784