Use of Primary Quail Embryo Fibroblast cells for propagation and assay of Avian viruses

Abstract

A primary fi broblast cells from embryos of brown quail Coturnix ypsilophora has been established and partially characterized. The cells were maintained in Modifi ed Eagle’s medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were able to grow at temperatures between 35°C and 38°C with optimum temperature of 37°C. The growth rate of primary quail fi broblast cells increased as the FBS proportion increased from 5% to 20% at 37°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. The cells showed no microbial contamination throughout the period of experiment and the total chromosome number of a diploid cell was 78, according to karyotyping and chromosome analysis. The susceptibility of quail primary cells for avian viruses was investigated in this study after inoculation with ND and IB viruses. Both viruses showed a satisfactory CPE development and the infectivity were assayed by virus titration (TCID₅₀). This suggests that the quail primary cells can be used for isolation of various avian viruses with further steps of infectivity confi rmation in the future.