CULTURE OF CELLS FROM ZEBRAFISH (BRACHYDANIO-RERIO) BLASTULA-STAGE EMBRYOS

The zebrafish has become a popular model for studies of vertebrate dev elopment and toxicology. However, in vitro approaches utilizing this o rganism have not been fully exploited due to the absence of suitable c ell culture systems. Previously, we developed methods for the culture of cells derived from zebrafish blastula-stage embryos. One of these c ultures, ZEM-2, was derived in a complex medium containing trout embry o extract, trout serum and medium conditioned by buffalo rat liver cel ls. In this study we describe a zebrafish embryo cell line, ZEM-2A, de rived from ZEM-2 following selection for growth in a simplified medium . Optimal growth of ZEM-2A cells is attained in nutrient medium supple mented with 5% fetal bovine serum.