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Insect cell cultures are widely used in viral diagnosis and biotechnology, for the production of recombinant proteins, viral pesticides and vaccines as well as in basic research in genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, endocrinology and virology. Following KRP Singh's pioneering research in 1967, a large number of cell lines from diptera, hemiptera, and lepidopteran insects were established and characterized in India. With the availability of the modern tools in molecular biology and the advancements made in biotechnology, the indigenous cell lines may prove useful in creating a future without biohazardous chemical pesticides as well as producing life saving pharmaceuticals and vaccines for many diseases. This review summarizes information gathered regarding the insect cell lines established so far in India. It also covers the familiarization of the well characterized continuous cell lines and their potential applications. Special attention is given to virus susceptibility of the cell lines, the yield of virus with a comparative analysis with other conventional systems. The potential applications of dipteran and lepidopteran cell lines in agriculture and biotechnology are also briefly discussed for prospective studies.
Key words
Baculoviruses - dipteran and lepidopteran cell lines - insect cell culture - recombinant proteins
The successful demonstration of growth of fibrillae from embryonic frog neuroblasts in clotted lymph by Harrison1 and subsequent workers has opened up a new scientific field of animal tissue culture. The importance achieved in a short span in vertebrate cell culture research has warranted an urgent need to have a parallel system from arthropods especially from insects. Arthropods have become the centre of attraction of scientists due to their importance in medicine and agriculture. They played an important role as intermediate hosts or vectors of pathogens causing diseases to man and pet animals. The growing interest in arbovirus infections of man and domestic animals has stimulated interest in developing cell cultures from arthropods of medical importance especially from mosquitoes and ticks in order to study the vector virus relationship at cellular level. Similarly, in the field of agriculture, the damage caused by caterpillars and the failure of insecticides in their control stimulated urgency in developing cell cultures from lepidopteran insects for large-scale production of insect viruses. The first breakthrough in the development of insect cell culture was the report of...