Development of Caudal Fin Cell Line from Hill Trout Barilius Bendelisis (Hamilton, 1807) for Cytotoxicity and Transfection Studies

A cell line named BBdF-1, established from the caudal fin of hill stream fish Barilius bendelisis, has been subcultured for more than 52 passages and is being maintained in L-15 media containing 20% FBS. Species origin of the cell line was confirmed using amplification of partial region of 16S and COI mitochondrial gene sequences. The optimum temperature for growth of BBdF-1 cell line was found to be 28°C. Karyotyping revealed diploid chromosome number as 50. Cells exhibited strong binding for cytokeratin marker and thus were found to be epithelial-like. Strong green fluorescence was observed in BBdF-1 cells transfected with phrGFP-II-N vector, indicating its suitability for utilization in gene expression and manipulation studies. Successful assessment of cytotoxicity of two heavy metals, viz. mercury and chromium, was performed. The cell line can serve as a useful resource material for early toxicity screening of pesticides/pollutant and gene expression.