Establishment of a novel fin cell line from Brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (Forsskål), and evaluation of its viral susceptibility

To lay a solid foundation of in vitro investigations of fish viral diseases, cytotechnology and cytotoxicology, a novel fin cell line from brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus , was established and its viral susceptibility was evaluated. The fin tissues, digested with hyaluronidase and collagenase II, were used to initiate primary culture at 24 °C by using 20% foetal bovine serum-Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium/F12 medium, which was further supplemented with carboxymethyl–chitooligosaccharide, basic fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-I. The fibroblastic fin cells grew at a steady rate during subsequent subculture and had a population doubling time of 50.6 h at passage 60. The modal diploid chromosome number was 48. A brown-marbled grouper fin cell line (bmGF-1) has been established and subcultured to passage 75 by now. Viral susceptibilities revealed that typical cytopathic effects of bmGF-1 cells emerged after being infected by turbot reddish-body iridovirus (TRBIV) or lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV). However, a large number of TRBIV and LCDV particles were also found in infected bmGF-1 cells. All these indicate that the bmGF-1 cell line has good susceptibility to TRBIV and LCDV, which may serve as a valuable tool for studies of cell–virus interactions and have potential applications in fish virus propagation and vaccine development.