Epstein-Barr virus: comparison of different strains for their biological activities in vitro.

Several sources of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were tested for the ability to superinfect Raji cells or to transform human cord blood leukocytes. EBV prepared from P3HR-1 cells showed only the ability to superinfect Raji cells whereas EBV from QIMR-WIL cells from a cell line (CRU-L1) derived from an infectious mononucleosis (IM) patient or virus from throat washings from IM patients transformed human cord blood leukocytes, but did not superinfect Raji cells.