FCRI to develop ‘cell line’ from clown fish

The Fisheries College and Research Institute (FCRI) in association with the National Centre for Cell Sciences, Pune, will carry out a three-year research project using a grant of Rs.42.73 lakh from the Centre, to develop ‘cell line’ from clown fish for first time. Dr.V.K. Venkataramani, Dean, FCRI, said that the development of cell lines from clown fish would help the scientific fraternity to monitor viral diseases in marine ornamental fishes in a systematic manner.

A research team comprising Rosalind George, Riji John (both associate professors at FCRI) and Ramesh R Bhonde, Milind Patole (both scientists at NCCS), will first develop primary cell cultures from brain, fin, caudal peduncle and kidney of juvenile clown fish collected from the Gulf of Mannar.

The primary cultures will then be subjected to various sub-culturing procedures in different types of cell culture media to develop permanent cell lines.

“During the third phase of the study, characterisation of the newly developed cell line in terms of growth, karyotyping and cryopreservation will be carried out using standard protocols,” the Dean said.

The susceptibility to different fish viruses and isolation of fish viruses using the developed cell lines will be examined.

Dr. Venkataramani said that new fish cell line would be of great importance for the development of diagnostics and vaccines for viral diseases which might emerge periodically in cultural systems.

Besides, cell line will be helpful to produce diagnostic reagents like monoclonal antibodies or nucleic acid probes and to conduct eco-toxicity screening.

It can also be applied in biomedical research for screening pharmacological and therapeutic substances.

The Dean said that development of more and more cell lines from different fish species looks to be the need of the hour to carry out in –depth toxicological studies, carcinogenesis, cellular physiology, gene transfer and genetic regulation.