Development of two cell culture systems from Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch)

Two new cell culture systems namely epitheloid cells of Lates (LCE) and fibroblastic cells of Lates (LCF) have been developed from fry and fingerling of the economically important brackishwater fish Lates calcarifer. Primary cultures were initiated by explant technique using caudal fin of fingerling and whole body tissue of the fry. The nutritional requirements and the growth pattern in response to different culture environment were similar for the two cell cultures. The culture medium used was Leibovitz‐15 supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% fish serum. The LCE comprised of epithelioid cells and LCF cells were fibroblastic. With a split ratio of 1:2, the confluency of cells was attained in 8–10 days at an incubation temperature of 28°C. The cells were found to grow well in a wide range of temperature (24–32°C) and stable at 20 and 36°C. The growth rate of LCF and LCE cells increased proportionately with the concentration of FBS from 5% to 20%. A decrease of serum level to 10% after eight subcultures produced no apparent change in cell morphology and growth rate. The viability of cells was found to be 70% when revived after a month of storage in liquid nitrogen (?196°C).