Differential effect of limitation in oxygen supply on plaquing and multiplication of adenovirus and poliovirus.

Adenovirus and poliovirus were grown and plaqued in KB cell sheet cultures under nutrient agar medium in Petri dishes in a desiccator continuously flushed with atmospheres containing O2 at various concentrations. Virus multiplication and plaquing were determined in the central half of the culture, where the depth of the agar overlay was uniform. Under 3 percent O2 relative to the control under 19 percent O2, adenovirus plating efficiency was less than 1 percent in the central half, and the average diameter of the few plaques discernible there was only 20 percent of the average control plaque diameter, whereas relative plating efficiency of poliovirus did not differ significantly from 100 percent and average plaque diameter under 3 percent O2 was 60 percent of average control plaque diameter. Multiplication curves determined under 3, 5, 10 and 19 percent O2 was 60 percent of average control plaque diameter. Multiplication curves determined under 3, 5, 10 and 19 percent O2 for each virus at total imput of 10,000 PFU per cell sheet showed that the capacity of poliovirus to multiply under the hypoaerobic conditions of 3 and 5 percent O2 was much stronger than that of adenovirus. Under these conditions, poliovirus completed its eclipse phase in less than 0.5 day and multiplied to high titer, whereas adenovirus was still lin eclipse 5 days postinoculation.