Chapter 6
Insecta (Diptera)
Of the dipteran insects, Drosophila melanogaster cell lines have been
established in great number. However, reports on establishing D.
melanogaster cell lines are relatively few, except for those cell lines established during the early stages of Drosophila cell culture history. Therefore, it is not known how many cell lines have been established from D.
melanogaster. D. melanogaster cell lines have been established mostly
for the study of cytogenetics. This is quite natural when we consider the
accumulated genetic information on this insect. The second most common cell lines of Diptera have been derived from mosquitoes. Many cell
lines have been established from various species of mosquitoes. The aim
of establishing cell lines from mosquitoes is mostly to studyarboviruses
in vector cell culture with the hope of producing interferons. Other than
D. melanogaster and mosquitoes, very few dipteran insects have been
cultured.
Because dipteran insects, especially D. melanogaster and mosquitoes,
are very small, pooled eggs or neonate larvae are commonly used as starting materials. The culture media are usually Schneider's, Echalier and
Ohanessian's, Wyss's, and Shield and Sang's for D. melanogaster cell culture, and MM medium and modified L-15 medium for mosquitoes and
other dipteran insects (see Appendix 1).
I Subprotocol 1
Embryos
Dipteran eggs are very small and, therefore, a large number of eggs is
usually required to set up one culture. To collect a large number of eggs,
a special device has been developed for Drosophila culture (Elgin and
Miller, 1978).
Materials
- Dissecting microscope
- Centrifuge and centrifuge tubes
- Stainless steel mesh
- Glass homogenizer
- Maximov slide
- Knife
- Needle
PROTOCOL
Equipment
Insecta (Diptera)
Of the dipteran insects, Drosophila melanogaster cell lines have been
established in great number. However, reports on establishing D.
melanogaster cell lines are relatively few, except for those cell lines established during the early stages of Drosophila cell culture history. Therefore, it is not known how many cell lines have been established from D.
melanogaster. D. melanogaster cell lines have been established mostly
for the study of cytogenetics. This is quite natural when we consider the
accumulated genetic information on this insect. The second most common cell lines of Diptera have been derived from mosquitoes. Many cell
lines have been established from various species of mosquitoes. The aim
of establishing cell lines from mosquitoes is mostly to studyarboviruses
in vector cell culture with the hope of producing interferons. Other than
D. melanogaster and mosquitoes, very few dipteran insects have been
cultured.
Because dipteran insects, especially D. melanogaster and mosquitoes,
are very small, pooled eggs or neonate larvae are commonly used as starting materials. The culture media are usually Schneider's, Echalier and
Ohanessian's, Wyss's, and Shield and Sang's for D. melanogaster cell culture, and MM medium and modified L-15 medium for mosquitoes and
other dipteran insects (see Appendix 1).
I Subprotocol 1
Embryos
Dipteran eggs are very small and, therefore, a large number of eggs is
usually required to set up one culture. To collect a large number of eggs,
a special device has been developed for Drosophila culture (Elgin and
Miller, 1978).
Materials
- Dissecting microscope
- Centrifuge and centrifuge tubes
- Stainless steel mesh
- Glass homogenizer
- Maximov slide
- Knife
- Needle
PROTOCOL
Equipment