A Cell Line Derived from Ovarian Tissue of Culex Tritaeniorhynchus Summorosus Dyar1

Abstract

The establishment and growth of a cell line from ovarian tissue of Culex tritaeniorhynchus summorosus Dyar in a modified 721-medium, without insect hemolymph, is described. The majority of the C. tritaeniorhynchus cells were a fibroblast-type; however, epithelial-like cells and a small number of primitive mesenchymal cells were also present in the culture. During the active growth phase the cells had an estimated population-doubling time of 25 hr with approximately a 28-fold increase in cell numbers after 6 days. Most of the cells retained the normal 2n (=6) complement of chromosomes. Serial subcultures of the cells have been carried through 40 passages from December 1970 to June 1971. The pH tolerance ranged between 6.3 and 7.6 in which the cells suffered no apparent mitotic inhibition. The cells have also been adapted, without adverse effects, to a medium that was free of fetal bovine serum, and in addition have been frozen at −196°C in medium containing 40% inactivated fetal bovine serum and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide and successfully revived.