Immortalization of shrimp lymphoid cells by hybridizing with the continuous cell line Sf9 leading to the development of 'PmLyO-Sf9 '.

Shrimp progressively gets more attention among marine invertebrates from researchers all over the world due to it being a healthy food as well as having economic importance. There were a lot of attempts to develop a continuous cell line from shrimp but none successful. In this context a novel hybrid cell line named ' Pm LyO- Sf 9' could be developed by fusing shrimp lymphoid organ cells with Sf 9 cells after to metabolic blocking of Sf 9 cells using puromycin and actinomycin D and effecting the fusion by way of PEG application. The cells are maintained and multiplied in a mixture of SCCM and TNM-FH having osmolality 550 mOsm kg−1 and pH 6.8. Transmission electron microscopy of the hybrid cells revealed the presence of two nuclei during the initial stages and a single nucleus subsequently. The cell line is with shrimp and Sf 9 genomic components and shrimp specific protein and is susceptible to WSSV. Shrimp elongation factor, Sf9 beta-actin, shrimp STAT and peroxinectin could be expresses through RT-PCR in the cell line. This is the first successful report of a hybrid cell line with shrimp genomic components and envisaged to be recognized a model system for multitudes of biomedical research in vitro. The cell line is in the National Cell Line Repository of ICAR – National Bureaue of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, India. • A novel hybrid cell line ' Pm LyO- Sf 9' developed by fusing shrimp lymphoid organ cells with Sf 9 cells. • Morphologically, hybrid cells are bi- and tri-polar with tail like extension. • Electron microscopy analysis revealed two distinct nuclei in early stages. • Shrimp and Sf9 genomic components were separately amplified. • Shrimp immune genes peroxinectin and STAT expression confirmed in hybrid cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]