A new tick cell line derived from Boophilus microplus.

The Boophilus microplus IX tick cell line was developed from a primary embryonic cell culture derived from eggs six to nine days old. The cell line has been in culture since March 1979 and is currently maintained at 32 degrees C in medium consisting of equal parts of minimum essential medium an Leibovitz 15 medium supplemented with 20 per cent fetal bovine serum, 10 per cent tryptose phosphate broth and 0.1 per cent plasma albumin. A split ratio of 1:2 has been used for all subcultures and the cell line is now in its 26th passage. The cells are predominantly epithelial-like and of the male diploid chromosome number 21.