Persistent infection with an influenza C virus variant is dominantly established in the presence of the parental wild-type virus

• Published in: Virus research Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 51 - 58
• Main Authors: Marschall, Manfred, Helten, Anke, Hechtfischer, Anne, Zach, Anke, Meier-Ewert, Herbert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.03.1998
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Line; Chick Embryo; Dogs; Dominant behaviour; Gammainfluenzavirus - genetics; Gammainfluenzavirus - physiology; Genetic Variation; Genomic selection; Humans; Influenza C virus; Persistent variant; Virus Latency; Influenza C virus; Dominant behaviour; Persistent variant; Genomic selection
• ISSN: 0168-1702; 1872-7492
• DOI: 10.1016/S0168-1702(98)00014-8

Two influenza C viruses were used for double-infection experiments to investigate the dominance of their phenotypes. The wild-type virus (C/AA-wt) had been characterized by its short-lived productive cycle, whereas a distinct variant derived from it (C/AA-pi) was demonstrated to persist in long-term passages of infected MDCK cultures. Here we show that the persistent virus C/AA-pi is capable of replicating in the presence of abundant amounts of wild-type virus: the persistent virus could be diluted to 10 −9 within wild-type inoculum, still developing a stable form of persistence. This behaviour was reflected by permanent virus release and by continuous enzymatic activity of the viral HEF glycoprotein in infected cells. All long-term cultures tested remained positive for viral NS protein and vRNA. On the vRNA level, it was shown that viral segments originated from the persistent-type genome, while wild-type vRNAs were not maintained after double-infection. Thus, the genotype of the persistent variant was dominantly selected in serial passages. These results indicate a specific intracellular advantage of persistent influenza C virus over the parental wild-type.