Susceptibility of Lepidopteran Cell Lines to a Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera

Spodoptera exigua nuclear polyhedrosis virus (SeNPV) was examined for replication in 20 continuous cell lines from eight lepidopteran species; Spodoptera frugiperda, Spodoptera littoralis, Spodoptera litura, Spodoptera exigua, Pseudaletia separata, Mamestra brassicae, Plutella xylostella, and Bombyx mori. Of these, only five homologous cell lines, established from S. exigua, were permissive for infection with the virus. The growth kinetics of SeNPV in S. exigua Se3FH cells showed that extracellular viruses were released from infected cells 6 h p.i. and reached a maximal titer 72 h p.i. The number of polyhedral inclusion bodies (PIBs) reached a maximum of 107 PIBs/ml 96 h p.i.