Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1974 Sep;28(3):366–373. doi: 10.1128/am.28.3.366-373.1974

Evaluation of a Plaque Assay for the Maedi-Progressive Pneumonia-Visna Viruses

R S Trowbridge 1
PMCID: PMC186728  PMID: 4371699

Abstract

A simple and direct plaque assay for maedi virus, two strains of progressive pneumonia virus, and two strains of visna virus has been developed and evaluated. The technique allows the plaques formed by these viruses to be localized without disturbing the host-cell substrate of sheep choroid plexus cells or the gelled maintenance medium over the host-cell monolayer. Diethylaminoethyl-dextran supplementation of the medium used to overlay strain K796 visna virus-infected cultures decreases the time required for maximum plaque development from 12 to 10 days, enhances the contrast of the plaques, increases the titer of plaque-forming units, and permits a plaque size heterogeneity to be realized. Both large and small plaques occur in cultures infected with the visna viruses, one strain of progressive pneumonia virus, or maedi virus. In contrast, the plaques observed in cultures infected with the second strain of progressive pneumonia virus are relatively homogeneous in size.

Full text

PDF
366

Images in this article

369Image
on p.369
371Image
on p.371

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Haase A. T., Levinson W. Inhibition of RNA slow viruses by thiosemicarbazones. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1973 Apr 16;51(4):875–880. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(73)90008-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Harter D. H., Choppin P. W. Plaque assay of Visna virus using a secondary cellular overlay as an indicator. Virology. 1967 Jan;31(1):176–178. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(67)90025-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Harter D. H. Observations on the plaque assay of visna virus. J Gen Virol. 1969 Jul;5(1):157–160. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-5-1-157. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Kennedy R. C., Eklund C. M., Lopez C., Hadlow W. J. Isolation of a virus from the lungs of Montana sheep affected with progressive pneumonia. Virology. 1968 Jul;35(3):483–484. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(68)90228-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Lopez C., Eklund C. M., Hadlow W. J., Good R. A. Tissue culture studies of the virus of progressive pneumonia, a slow infectious disease of sheep. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1971 Dec;138(3):1035–1040. doi: 10.3181/00379727-138-36045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Pattyn S. R., De Vleesschauwer L. Plaque production by group A arboviruses. II. Enhancing effect of DEAE-destran on plaque numbers in chick embryo cells. Acta Virol. 1969 Jan;13(1):26–33. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. SIGURDARDOTTIR B., THORMAR H. ISOLATION OF A VIRAL AGENT FROM THE LUNGS OF SHEEP AFFECTED WITH MAEDI. J Infect Dis. 1964 Feb;114:55–60. doi: 10.1093/infdis/114.1.55. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. SIGURDSSON B., PALSSON P., GRIMSSON H. Visna, a demyelinating transmissible disease of sheep. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1957 Jul;16(3):389–403. doi: 10.1097/00005072-195707000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Stone L. B., Scolnick E., Takemoto K. K., Aaronson S. A. Visna virus: a slow virus with an RNA dependent DNA polymerase. Nature. 1971 Jan 22;229(5282):257–258. doi: 10.1038/229257a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stone L. B., Takemoto K. K., Martin M. A. Physical and biochemical properties of progressive pneumonia virus. J Virol. 1971 Oct;8(4):573–578. doi: 10.1128/jvi.8.4.573-578.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. THORMAR H. A COMPARISON OF VISNA AND MAEDI VIRUSES. I. PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES. Res Vet Sci. 1965 Jan;6:117–129. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. THORMAR H. Neutralization of visna virus by antisera from sheep. J Immunol. 1963 Feb;90:185–192. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. THORMAR H. The growth cycle of visna virus in monolayer cultures of sheep cells. Virology. 1963 Mar;19:273–278. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(63)90064-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Takemoto K. K., Stone L. B. Transformation of murine cells by two "slow viruses," visna virus and progressive pneumonia virus. J Virol. 1971 Jun;7(6):770–775. doi: 10.1128/jvi.7.6.770-775.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Thormar H., Helgadóttir H. A comparison of visna and maedi viruses. II. Serological relationship. Res Vet Sci. 1965 Oct;6(4):456–465. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES