A rapid procedure for the purification of avian encephalomyelitis viruses.

A rapid procedure for the purification of egg-grown or field preparations of avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV) of neural origin is described. Extracts of infected tissues were clarified and then partly purified with trichlorotrifluorethane (Freon TF), and the virus present was concentrated with polyethylene glycol. The concentrates were then re-extracted with Freon, and a portion was labeled with 125iodine. During subsequent purification steps, virus could be readily detected by monitoring for radioactivity, thus eliminating the need to determine the infectivity in individual fractions or to examine for the presence of virions by electron microscopy. Final purification was achieved by cesium-chloride equilibrium or sucrose-velocity-gradient centrifugation. Virus purified in this manner was shown to be free of tissue debris, to be specific for AEV by immune electron microscopy, and to possess structural proteins characteristic of picornaviruses.