Induction and decay of thermotolerance in rainbow trout fibroblasts.

Thermotolerance was studied in the rainbow trout fibroblast cell line RTG-2. RTG-2 cultures that had been incubated at 28 degrees C for 24 h were better able to withstand ultimately lethal temperatures above 28 degrees C than RTG-2 cultures that had been maintained at the routine growth temperature of 22 degrees C. This thermotolerance developed rapidly between 3 and 6 h and was fully developed by 24 h at 28 degrees C. After development for 24 hr at 28 degrees C, thermotolerance showed little change over 72 h at 0 and 5 degrees C but approximately a 40 and 60% reduction at 10 and 22 degrees C, respectively. This is the first demonstration of heat-induced thermal resistance in the cells of a poikilothermic vertebrate.