Autoradiographic study on sheeppox virus infection.

Terrinha, António M. (National Laboratory for Veterinary Research, Lisbon, Portugal), José D. Vigário, José L. Nunes Petisca, J. Moura Nunes, and Armando L. Bastos. Autoradiographic study on sheeppox virus infection. J. Bacteriol. 90:1703-1709. 1965.-An autoradiographic study of sheep embryo cell cultures infected with sheeppox virus showed that viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis starts at 10 to 11 hr after infection. The number of cells which supported viral DNA synthesis increased until 22 to 23 hr. The extent of cytoplasmic continuity between cells might permit the cell-to-cell transfer of mature virus or perhaps viral DNA. There is evidence of an inhibitory action on cellular DNA synthesis in cells which supported viral DNA synthesis, but, in all cellular populations infected, a small proportion of cells was encountered which supported viral DNA synthesis in compartment S. No evidence for cellular division of sheeppox virus-infected cells has been found. Enzymatic digestion by deoxyribonuclease combined with autoradiography provided an indirect demonstration of the time at which the first viral structural proteins were found to be synthesized, that is, 18 hr after infection. A progressive increase in synthesis of viral structural proteins was demonstrated. Virus maturation occurred within the cells in the cytoplasm, predominantly in the same sites as viral DNA synthesis.