Establishment of Walking Catfish (Clarias batrachus) Cell Lines and Development of a Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) Virus Vaccine

Abstract

Cell lines from apparently normal gill, gonad, and kidney tissue of adult walking catfish (Clarias batrachus) were established and have been subcultured 75, 80, and 95 times, respectively. The cells were propagated in a modified Ham's F-12 medium at 25 °C but are capable of growth at 37 °C. The gill and kidney cells are the first to have been established from these tissues in fish. The kidney cell line is fibroblastic, the gonad is a mixed epithelioid–fibroblastic type, and the gill is pleomorphic. All three cell lines are susceptible to channel catfish virus (CCV), exhibiting cell fusion and other marked cytopathic effects. A live attenuated vaccine strain of CCV was produced by repeated passage of a virulent strain of CCV in kidney cell cultures. The vaccine strain is less virulent than the wild-type CCV and protects fingerling catfish against challenge with wild-type virus.Key words: channel catfish virus, Clarias batrachus, fish cell cultures, vaccine