Transfection of cultured fish cells with exogenous DNA.

We have applied to fish cell cultures the techniques used routinely to introduce exogenous genes into cultured mammalian cells. Using calcium phosphate-mediated transfection, a plasmid containing bacterial aminoglycoside phosphotransferase under the influence of the simian virus 40 early promoter and polyadenylation signal was introduced into several fish cell lines. The plasmid was expressed in these cells in a stable manner, with transfection occurring at a frequency comparable to that seen with mammalian cells. These results suggest that plasmids constructed for use in mammalian cells may be used efficiently in fish systems without further modification and indicate that the advantages of transfection procedures utilized in mammalian systems can also be applied to fish.