In vivo and in vitro infections of chicken lymphocytes with Marek's disease virus or herpesvirus of turkeys.

Abstract

Various types of cells from normal chickens or from chickens inoculated with Marek's disease virus(MDV) or the herpesvirus of turkeys(HVT) were studied to determine the nature of the target cells for these viruses. Lymphocytes from thymus, bursa of Fabricius, spleen and peripheral blood supported a partially-productive infection (as determined by the fluorescent antibody test for the expression of viral intracellular antigen) with MDV in vivo, whereas a nonproductive latent infection (as determined by virus recovery) occurred with HVT. Furthermore, unfractionated and non-adherent bone marrow cells (presumably lymphocytes and other cells) were found to be infected with MDV or HVT in vivo. In in vitro infection of chicken cells with MDV or HVT, normallung cells and lymphocytes from thymus, bursa, spleen and peripheral blood were susceptible to partially-productive infection by the viruses, but peritoneal exudate cells were not. Unfractionated bone marrow cells supported latent(nonproductive) infection with the viruses. After culture, only adherent bone marrow cells became susceptible to partially-productive infection with the viruses. These results indicate that the target cells for MDV and HVT infections are distributed in various tissues And peripheral blood, and that the infectious states for MDV and HVT differ. The stage of differentiation of bone marrow cells may be an important factor in determining susceptibility to the viruses.