The effect of diethylaminoethyl dextran and agar overlay pH on plaque formation by two plaque-size variants of foot-and-mouth disease virus.

The effect of diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) dextran and agar overlay medium pH on a small-plaque (SP) and large-plaque (LP) foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), type A, strain 119 (A119) was studied. The SP virus was inhibited under normal agar overlay but the addition of 100, 1,000 and 2,000 microg DEAE dextran/ml of agar overlay permitted plaque development. By using untreated and DEAE dextran-treated agar overlay medium, plaque formation by the SP virus was enhanced when the pH of agar medium was raised to a more alkaline level before overlay. Plaques formed by the LP virus were relatively uninhibited under the regular overlay but were larger in the presence of 1,000 microg DEAE dextran/ml. The enhancement of LP virus plaques occurred at various pH levels and was also inversely related to the hydrogen ion concentration of agar overlays; regular and DEAE dextrantreated alkaline overlays produced larger plaques.