Biological studies of a baculovirus in a mammalian cell line.

In two of five experiments, replication (TCID50) was observed following inoculation of Chinese hamster cells with Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV). Radiolabeling experiments employing tritiated thymidine consistently resulted in a labeled entity which banded in sucrose gradients at a density of 1.24-1.25 g/ml, similar to that observed for A. californica NPV in the permissive Trichoplusia ni cell line. The labeled entity is believed to be A. californica NPV, based on infectivity and serological data. The infectious center assay revealed that at an MOI of 3 only 0.38% of Chinese hamster cells was infected compared with 28% for cabbage looper cells. However, 4.2% of Chinese hamster cells was infected at an MOI of 41.