تولید و ارزیابی یک لاین سلولی از سلول‌های جنینی کرم غوزه پنبه Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)

The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), is a polyphagous pest observed in most parts of the world. It causes damage to numerous crops in Iran and other regions globally. Insects cell culture is a novel and valuable method used for early-stage evaluation of the cytotoxicity of new insecticides, production of recombinant proteins, and better understanding insect biology. Compared to rearing live insects, this method is cheaper in terms of time and cost. In this study, a primary culture from embryonic cells of the cotton bollworm H. armigera was established using tissue homogenization in TC100 cell culture medium enriched with 10% fetal bovine serum. Morphologically, most cells in the primary culture were spherical and spindle-shaped. The first cell passage was performed after 30 days once a monolayer had formed in the culture flasks. After 21 cell passages, the cells became stable and the cell line was named GU-Ha-EA1. The growth curve of this cell line in the 20th passage initially increased slowly and then steeply. The population doubling time of this cell line at the 20th passage and 27 °C was reported to be 53.19 hours. The karyotype of this cell line consisted of numerous small chromosomes, and most cells appeared to be tetraploid or octaploid. The results of this study indicate that establishing a cell line from embryonic cells of the cotton bollworm enables new and practical research on biological processes such as cellular physiology and immunology of this pest and other Lepidopterans. Additionally, this cell line can be used in extensive research on new insecticides effective against this pest.