Propagation of Homalodisca coagulata virus-01 via Homalodisca vitripennis Cell Culture

Summary

Here we present a protocol to propagate Homalodisca vitripennis cells and HoCV-1 in vitro. Medium was removed from HoCV-1 positive cultures and RNA extracted every 24 hr for 168 hr. Cell survivability was quantified by trypan blue staining. Whole virus particles were extracted post-infection. Extracted RNA was quantified by qRT-PCR.

Abstract

The glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis) is a highly vagile and polyphagous insect found throughout the southwestern United States. These insects are the predominant vectors of Xylella fastidiosa (X. fastidiosa), a xylem-limited bacterium that is the causal agent of Pierce's disease (PD) of grapevine. Pierce’s disease is economically damaging; thus, H. vitripennis have become a target for pathogen management strategies. A dicistrovirus identified as Homalodisca coagulata virus-01 (HoCV-01) has been associated with an increased mortality in H. vitripennis populations. Because a host cell is required for HoCV-01 replication, cell culture provides a uniform environment for targeted replication that is logistically and economically valuable for biopesticide production. In this study, a system for large-scale propagation of H. vitripennis cells via tissue culture was developed, providing a viral replication mechanism. HoCV-01 was extracted from whole body insects and used to inoculate cultured H. vitripennis cells at varying levels. The culture medium was removed every 24 hr for 168 hr, RNA extracted and analyzed with qRT-PCR. Cells were stained with trypan blue and counted to quantify cell survivability using light microscopy. Whole virus particles were extracted up to 96 hr after infection, which was the time point determined to be before total cell culture collapse occurred. Cells were also subjected to fluorescent staining and viewed using confocal microscopy to investigate viral activity on F-actin attachment and nuclei integrity. The conclusion of this study is that H. vitripennis cells are capable of being cultured and used for mass production of HoCV-01 at a suitable level to allow production of a biopesticide.

Introduction

The glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis Germar 1821) has been identified as the predominant vector of Xylella fastidiosa (X. fastidiosa), the causal agent of Pierce’s disease of grapevine (PD) in North America¹. Insect population management has quickly become the focus of research to combat this devastating problem to the viticulture industry in California and across the southern United States. A positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Dicistroviridae, Homalodisca coagulata virus-01 (HoCV-01) has been identified in wild H. vitripennis populations a....

Protocol

1. Cell Culture

NOTE: Homalodisca vitripennis cell lines established by the Dr. Wayne Hunter laboratory at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (Ft. Pierce, FL USA) were used to initiate a lab stock composed of mixed cell stages including initial fibroblasts and monolayers.

1. Perform the following procedures in a sterile laboratory environment maintained at a temperature range of 20-24 °C with 25 cm² culture flasks.
2. Cultivate and maintain cultures in 25 cm² tissue culture flasks using H2G+ Leafhopper medium, a modified WH2 honeybee media¹⁰ (Table 1).
....

Results

Cell attachment and growth was seen within 48 hr of passage in both small and large culture flasks, from primary cultures and continued passages. Fibroblast growth and development was also observed within this time frame. When newly seeded flasks were disturbed before 48 hr, there was a visible decline in cell attachment, leading to slower growing cultures and sometimes no attachment or growth at all. Cells were approximately 80% confluent within one week of passing and formed a monolayer in 10-14 days (Figure 1<.......

Discussion

Rising concerns regarding the influx of invasive agricultural species have lead to an increased demand for new methodologies to defend against emerging pests and pathogens. A focus of disease prevention and management involves the management of pathogen vectors and was the primary target of this study. Economics play a vital role in the decision to produce this type of biopesticide to manage pathogen vectors in agriculture because the practical application needs to be large quantities over large areas but at a low cost

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Corning cell culture flasks	Sigma Aldrich	CLS430168	Surface area 25 cm2, canted neck, cap (plug seal)
Olympus DP30BW, IX2-SP, IX71	Olympus		Inverted microscope and camera
Trypsin-EDTA solution	Sigma Aldrich	T4049	0.25%, sterile-filtered, BioReagent, suitable for cell culture, 2.5 g porcine trypsin and 0.2 g EDTA • 4Na per liter of Hanks′ Balanced Salt Solution with phenol red
Greiner CELLSTAR multiwell culture plates	Sigma Aldrich	M8937	48 wells (TC treated with lid)
DETCA	Sigma Aldrich	228680	Sodium diethyldithiocarbamate trihydrate
Corning bottle-top vacuum filter system	Sigma Aldrich	CLS431206	Cellulose acetate membrane, pore size 0.45 μm, membrane area 54.5 cm2, filter capacity 500 ml
Brij 52	Sigma Aldrich	388831	Polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether
Phosphate buffer solution	Sigma Aldrich	P5244	Received as 100 mM diluted to 10 mM with sterile water
TRIzol LS	Life Technologies	10296-028
Agarose	Sigma Aldrich	A5304	For electrophoresis
Ethidium bromide	Sigma Aldrich	E7637	BioReagent, for molecular biology, powder
QIAquick	Qiagen	28704
QuantiTect qRT-PCR kit	Qiagen	204243
4% paraformaldehyde	Sigma Aldrich	P6148	Reagent grade, crystalline
PBS	Sigma Aldrich	P5368	Phosphate buffered saline
Triton X-100	Sigma Aldrich	X100
Bovine serum albumin (BSA)	Sigma Aldrich	A2153
Rhodamine red-conjugated phalloidin	Life Technologies	R415	Rhodamine phalloidin is a high-affinity F-actin probe conjugated to the red-orange fluorescent dye, tetramethylrhodamine
DAPI	Sigma Aldrich	D9542
ProLong Gold Antifade Reagent	Life Technologies	P36934
LSM510 Meta Confocal System	Carl Zeiss
LSM Zen 2007 Software	Carl Zeiss
Grace’s Insect medium (supplemented, 1x)	Sigma Aldrich	G8142	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
L-histidine monohydrate	Sigma Aldrich	H8125	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Medium 199 (10x)	Sigma Aldrich	M4530	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Medium 1066 (1x)	Sigma Aldrich	C0422	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Hank’s Balanced Salts (1x)	Sigma Aldrich	51322C	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
L-Glutamine (100x)	Sigma Aldrich	G3126	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
MEM, amino acid mix (50x)	Sigma Aldrich	56419C	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
1 M MgCl solution	Sigma Aldrich	M8266	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Pen-Strep (w/ glutamine)	Sigma Aldrich	G6784	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Nystatin	Sigma Aldrich	N6261	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Gentamycin	Sigma Aldrich	46305	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Dextrose	Sigma Aldrich	D9434	H2G+ leafhopper medium component
Fetal Bovine Serum	Sigma Aldrich	F2442	H2G+ leafhopper medium component