Role of autophagy in cellular response to infection with Orf virus Jilin isolate

• Autophagy can be induced in the primary ovine fetal turbinate (OFTu) cells upon ORFV infection.
• We address the relationship between autophagy and ORFV replication.
• Autophagy maybe not essential for ORFV replication in OFTu cells.

Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process of the cell, which has been described to be involved in the development of various viral diseases. However, the role of autophagy in Orf virus (ORFV) replication remains unknown. In this study, we provide the first evidence that ORFV infection triggered autophagy in primary ovine fetal turbinate cells (OFTu) based on the appearance of abundant double- and single-membrane vesicles, the accumulation of LC3 fluorescent puncta, the enhancement of LC3-I/-II conversion, and autophagic flux. Moreover, modulation of ORFV-induced autophagy by rapamycin (RAPA), Earle's balanced salts solution (EBSS), chloroquine (CQ) or 3-methyladenime (3-MA) does not affect virus production. In conclusion, these results suggest that autophagy can be induced in host cells by ORFV infection, but which maybe not essential for ORFV replication.