ABSTRACT. All stages of degeneration and regeneration in chicken tracheal epithelium were studied morphologically following an intratracheal inoculation of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Viral antigen was detected in the cytoplasm of tracheal epithelium from 1 to 7 days post-inoculation (d.p.i.) with a peak on 3 d.p.i. At 1 d.p.i., almost all epithelial cells were involved in the degeneration. At this time, labelling index of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) in the basal cells showed significantly high value compared with control. At 2 and 3 d.p.i., a great number of basal cells were recognized, but the BrdU labelling index tended to decrease. At 4 and 5 d.p.i., the BrdU labelling index of basal cells significantly decreased than 1 d.p.i., and a few number of regenerated immature ciliated epithelia appeared. At 6 to 11 d.p.i., the ciliated columnar epithelia increased rapidly in number, and returned to the normal appearance except for non-ciliated patch by 13 d.p.i. These results suggested that the tracheal epithelial cells infected with IBV degenerated within 24 hours and proliferating activity of basal cells functioned immediately, and 3 to 4 days later, these basal cells were differentiated to the ciliated epithelia.-KEY WORDS: bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), chicken, infectious bronchitis virus, regeneration, trachea.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 62(2): 129-134, 2000 (SPF) White Leghorn chickens (Line LMG) that were kindly provided by a certain breeder in Aburahi of Shiga prefecture were used in this study. Virus: The A1 strain of IBV (IBV-A1) was used in this experiment. This virus was isolated from nephritic kidneys of a 30-day-old chicken of a broiler flock in Hyogo prefecture, and it has been passaged six times in embryonated eggs and twice in chicken kidney cell culture.Experimental infection and autopsy: Thirty-six chickens were inoculated intratrachealy with 0.2 ml of viral inoculum containing 3.2 × 10 3 EID50/0.2 ml of IBV-A1. As controls, three chickens were autopsied before IBV inoculation. Clinical signs were recorded twice a day in the morning and evening. At 1-5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17 and 21 days postinoculation (d.p.i.), three chickens were killed by pentobarbital anesthesia and the larynx and trachea were immediately removed. One hour before killing, BrdU (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine; Sigma Chemical) was injected subcutaneously (100 mg/kg body weight). The dorsal part of the trachea was cut vertically, and the mucous membrane was examined grossly. The tracheal specimens for light microscope (LM), for detection of viral antigen and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were collected in the respective order, 2 cm, 0.5 cm and 0.5 cm in length from the anterior part of trachea.Detection of viral antigen: The viral antigen in trachea was detected by a direct immunofluorescent method. Frozen sections, fixed with cold acetone, were incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated chicken anti-IBV antibody in a moist chamber at 4°C overnight and specific fluorescence was examined under a fluorescent Since the respirator...