title: Efficient establishment of primary fibroblast cultures from the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata).
abstract: The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered species at a risk of extinction. Preservation of the genomic and cellular information of endangered animals is important for future genetic and biological studies. Here, we report the efficient establishment of primary fibroblast cultures from skin tissue of the hawksbill sea turtle. We succeeded in establishing 19 primary cultures from 20 hawksbill sea turtle individuals (a success rate of 95%). These cells exhibited a fibroblast-like morphology and grew optimally at a temperature of 26°C, but experienced a loss of viability when cultured at 37°C. Chromosomal analysis using the primary cells derived here revealed that hawksbill sea turtles have a 2n = 56 karyotype. Furthermore, we showed that our primary cell cultures are free of several fish-related viruses, and this finding is important for preservation purposes. To our knowledge, this report is the first to describe primary cell cultures established from normal tissues of the hawksbill sea turtle. The results will contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, especially for the sea turtles that are critically endangered owing to human activities.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi Aobaku, Sendai, 981-8555, Japan. tomofukuda@bios.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tomokazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kurita
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yuasa
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurita
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Donai
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nitto
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soichi
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishimori
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Emiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isogai
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onuma
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: Norihisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oseko
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue-Murayama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D007621:Karyotyping; D013696:Temperature; D014426:Turtles / Q000235:genetics*