Comparative Analysis of BTS-34 and Vero-76 Cell
lines for Isolation of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Virus
Asma Latif*1, 2, Aamer Bin Zahur2, Genevieve
Libeau3, Rabaab Zahra1, Aman Ullah2,
Afshan Ahmed2, Muhammad Afzal4 and
Sajjad-ur-Rahman5
1Department
of Microbiology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad; 2Animal
Health Laboratories, Animal Sciences Institute, NARC, Islamabad,
3CIRAD, UMR CMAEE, F-34398 Montpellier, France; INRA, UMR 1309
CMAEE,
F-34398 Montpellier, France; 4Progressive Control of PPR
in Pakistan, FAO-UN, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan; 5Institute
of Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author:
asmachudary@yahoo.com
Abstract
Peste de petits ruminant (PPR) is a highly
contagious viral disease affecting predominantly sheep and goats. The virus
belongs to the genus Morbillivirus accounting for causing immunosuppression and
severe lymphopenia in host lymphoid cells principally due to the presence of a
glycoprotein known as Signaling Lymphocyte Activation Molecule (SLAM) acting as
cellular receptor. Limitations regarding the efficiency of PPR virus isolation
using a variety of cell lines paved the way to the use of a new cell line
(BTS-34) expressing these receptors. In the present study, a total of 18 PPRV confirmed strains were inoculated
onto low passage Vero-76 and BTS-34 cell lines simultaneously to compare the
susceptibilities of Vero and BTS cells for PPR virus isolation. The recovered
viruses were then re-confirmed by Ic-ELISA and RT-PCR. In order to investigate
the differences in titers of virus strains, serial tenfold dilutions were made
separately using both cells at a density of 0.01x106 and tissue
culture infective dose fifty (TCID50) was calculated. The results
revealed that the characteristic pattern of the CPEs was more obvious in BTS-34
cell line marked by giant cells ultimately transforming into distinguished
syncytia in 2 to 3 days. The average incubation time for virus isolation on Vero
cells was about 10 days and syncytia formation were less marked. The growth
curve indicated a one log increase in virus titer in case of BTS-34 cell line as
compared to Vero-76. Statistically, there was significant difference between two
types of cell lines in terms of number of days taken for PPR virus isolation as
determined by single factor ANOVA (P<0.001). The study showed that BTS cells
produced high virus titer with clearly distinct CPEs in short time due to the
presence of SLAM receptors as compared to Vero cells suggesting the BTS cells to
be more efficient and sensitive for PPRV isolation.
To Cite This Article: Latif A, Zahur AB, Libeau G, Zahra R, Ullah A,
Ahmed A, Afzal M and Rahman SU, 2018. Comparative analysis of BTS-34 and Vero-76 cell lines for isolation of
Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) virus.
Pak Vet J, 38(3): 237-242. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2018.050