[Karyological study of a long-term cell culture of calf kidney]

Studied was the karyologic type of a long-term calf kidney cell culture. The optimal conditions were found for the preparation of good metaphase plaques of such cell culture, with clearly visible chromosomes. The changes in the chromosomes, setting in at the level of the 1st, 10th, 20th, and 27th passage were followed up. While the chromosomes in the first passage did not show any visible changes (with the exception of the 3rd chromosome where the presence of satelites was found), these underwent structural changes that started in the tenth passage, reached their peak in the twentieth passage, and receded later on. The most frequently encountered structural changes were the isochromosome gaps, dicentric configurations, acentric fragments, and polyploidy that appeared at the level of the 27th passage in four out of the twenty metaphase plaques. Discussed is the importance of the structural changes found.