Growth Characteristics of Acute Hemorrhagic Conjunctivitis (AHC) Virus in Monkey Kidney Cells

Effect of temperature on growth in monkey kidney (MK) cells of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) virus was studied. The optimal growth temperature ranged from 32 to 34°, and 39° was nonpermissive. In one-step growth experiments at 33°, the standard strain J 670/71 of AHC virus grew exponentially after a latent period of 2 h, and reached a maximum titer within 6 h post-infection (p.i.). The temperature-shift experiment showed that incubation at 39° during the latent period of the growth cycle had little effect on the subsequent viral growth at 33°, and when the shift-down was carried out at 2 h p. i. or later, viral growth immediately started and reached a maximum. Conversely, viral growth at 33° was immediately stopped by shift-up to the nonpermissive temperature. The shift-down experiment using guanidine-HCl suggested a lack of progeny RNA synthesis at the nonpermissive temperature.