Cell lines derived from the western corn rootworm larvae, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera)

Authors: ZHOU, KEILE - Johnson & Johnson Co; Goodman, Cynthia; Ringbauer, Joseph - Joe; Stanley, David

Submitted to: In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2020
Publication Date: 5/14/2020
Citation: Zhou, K., Goodman, C.L., Ringbauer Jr, J.A., Stanley, D.W. 2020. Cell lines derived from the western corn rootworm larvae, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera). In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal. 56:281-285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11626-020-00460-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11626-020-00460-7

Interpretive Summary: Insect cell lines are important tools in biomedical and agricultural industries, used to produce proteins that cannot otherwise be made and in research to identify new insecticidal chemistries and to address biological questions about insects. Many cell lines have been established from moth and fly species and these are contemporary research tools. Very few cell lines have been established from specific tissues. This is a serious problem because cell lines derived from specific tissues can have some of the properties recorded in intact insects, which enhances the value of insect cell lines. Here, we report on establishing three cell lines from the western corn rootworm, regarded as the most serious pest of corn in the U.S. and Europe. These cell lines are available to researchers globally upon request, where they will benefit scientists working to devise novel approaches to controlling western corn rootworms. Ultimately, this new research tool will benefit all maize consumers.

Technical Abstract: The western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera viergifera is a major pest of corn and has become resistant to virtually all management technologies. Cell lines from this insect will be helpful in developing novel control technologies. We initiated cell cultures from minced, whole larvae using a commercially available medium (EX-CELL 420) with 9% FBS. We established three WCR cell lines designated CT/BCIRL-DvWL1-0619-KZ, -DvWL2-0619-KZ and -DvWL3-1)0619-KZ and determined their doubling times: 101.7 hr (DvWL1), 51.4 hr (DvWL2), 67.0 hr (DvWL3). The cell in these lines have a variety of morphologies, including spherical, flattened multi-sided (epithelial-like) and elongated cells (fibroblast-like). The spherical cells ranged in diameter from 7-50 micrometer and the flattened multi-sided/elongated cells ranged from 10x8 to166x14 micrometer. We confirmed the identify of these cell lines using DAF-PCR. The DvWL cell lines are now available to researchers worldwide up on request.