Characteristics of long-term cultures of avian primordial germ cells and gonocytes.

Avian cell lines derived from germinal crescent primordial germ cells and gonadal gonocytes with long-term proliferative capacity in vitro and their subsequent rates of colonization and germline transmission are described. In general, male cultures proliferate more rapidly than female cultures although both can be developed into cell lines of >2 × 10(6) cells, at which time, they can be grown indefinitely and a cell bank can be established. All the cell lines injected into embryos transmitted through the germline with the percentage of germline transmission of both male and female cell lines varying from single digits to the high 90s. The derivation of these primordial germ cell and gonadal cell lines and the subsequent robustness of germline transmission validates these cells as suitable for establishment of lines of chickens bearing novel genetic modifications.