Establishment and characterization of a fibroblast cell line derived from the dorsal fin of red sea bream,Pagrus major (Temminck & Schlegel)

The establishment and partial characterization of a continuous cell line from the dorsal fin of red sea bream, Pagrus major, are described. The cell line, designated RSBF‐2, has been subcultured for more than 100 passages since its initiation in November 2000. It was optimally maintained at 28 °C in Leibovitz L‐15 medium with 10% foetal bovine serum. Propagation of RSBF‐2 cells was serum dependent and exhibited low plating efficiency (<1.7%). Aside from long‐term cryopreservation, the cells could also be kept at 4 °C for 72 days. The distribution of the chromosome number was 38–98 with a mode of 48. The RSBF‐2 cell line was susceptible to red sea bream iridovirus but only produced a few rounded and refractory cells. Virus‐inoculated RSBF‐2 cells were then subcultured to generate a persistently infected cell line. RSBF‐2 was also very sensitive to the extracellular products of Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida and produced significant fluorescent signals after transfection with pEGFP‐C3. Analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences revealed 99% identity between the cell line and Pagrus major.