Nonpermissive infection of lymphoblastoid cells by vesicular stomatitis virus. II. Effect on viral morphogenesis.

The human B-lymphoblastoid cell line Raji is nonpermissive for infection by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). The VSV particles released from Raji cells display a more heterogeneous distribution in equilibrium sucrose density gradients than particles released from BHK cells. The particles released from Raji cells contain approximately one-half to one-third as much viral matrix protein, relative to the nucleocapsid protein, as is normal. They also contain a higher proportion of the unglycosylated form of the G protein. The particles released from Raji cells are unstable and many disintegrate in the growth medium. Most of them deform when subjected to ultracentrifugation prior to fixation. The ratio of plaque-forming units to physical particles is much lower for the virions released from Raji cells.