The symplast-forming activity of the virus of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis

Summary Time-lapse microcinematography and fluorescence microscopy were used to study the symplast-forming activity of the Venezuelan horse encephalomyelitis virus with regard to a number of primary and transplantable tissue cultures. Experiments revealed sluggish symplast formation in massive infection (510 PFU/ml) of transplantable culture cells. The formation of symplasts is based on destruction of cell walls and merging of the cytoplasm of the adjoining cells into a single mass. During 10–12 h after their formation symplasts retain their viability and may support virus reproduction. The process of symplast formation is intercurrent with acute destruction of cells, both types of the cytopathogenic action of the virus being distinctly correlated to the VEEV reproduction cycle.(Presented by Active Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. M. Zhdanov) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 61, No. 5, pp. 87–89, May, 1966