Evaluation of factors related to growth of Rift Valley fever virus in suspended cell cultures.

The effect of several controlled variables on the peak titer and fold increase of Rift Valley fever virus grown in suspension culture on two variants of Earle's L cell, L-DR and L-MA clone 1-1, was studied. No significant amount of cell-associated virus was found at 24 hr, indicating a release of virus soon after its formation. Mild sonic treatment of the virus produced in serum-free medium increased the infective titer about 10x. This difference was not observed with virus produced in medium supplemented with serum. Peak titer was not affected by medium used during the infection period, by multiplicity of inoculum (MOI), or by initial cell concentration within the test range of 10(4) to 2 x 10(6) cell/ml. Cell strain employed influenced titer, because the L-DR cell did not produce virus efficiently at low MOI and low initial cell concentration. The time of peak titer and fold replication was dependent on MOI and initial cell concentration. Differences in virus propagation in monolayer and suspension systems are discussed.