The histology and ultrastructure of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus of the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella

Abstract

A histological and ultrastructural study of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus in the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella, was conducted. Polyhedral development was observed in nuclei of cells of the foregut, cardiac valve, midgut, pyloric valve, hindgut, Malpighian tubules, ganglia of the ventral nerve cord, muscle, tracheae, fat, and hypodermis. Observations made with the electron microscope suggest that virions from the gut lumen are transported in vesicles through the cytoplasm into the nuclei of the columnar cells. Here they are released, replicate, take on membrane, and ultimately become multiply occluded in polyhedral protein. Polyhedra observed in nuclei of other tissues appeared identical to those in the gut.