WHOLE-BLOOD ASSAY FOR EXAMINING LYMPHOCYTE BLASTOGENESIS OF PERCICHTHYID BASS (MORONE) MRR01

A simple and reproducible method was developed for the measurement of blastogenesis of peripheral blood lymphocytes using whole blood of hyb rid bass (striped bass [Morone saxatilis] female x white bass [M. chry sops] male) stimulated with Concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin-P, lipo polysaccharide or pokeweed mitogen. Compared to traditional methods wh ich use leucocyte separation procedures, whole blood culture is faster and less expensive. Only small aliquots of blood (10 mu l per culture well) were needed, which would be beneficial for sampling small fish as well as for taking multiple samples from single animals. Optimal cu lture conditions for hybrid bass, including mitogen concentration, inc ubation temperature and incubation period, were determined. This is th e first report to demonstrate a blastogenic response of whole blood ce lls in fish. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.