Establishment of a turkey cecal cell line and development of turkey coccidia within the cells

Cells were dispersed from cecal tissues of 1- to 2-day-old turkeys using a mixture of collagenase and dispase to enrich for epithelial cells. The initial culture produced from these cells (TCC) appeared to be heterogeneous, but, as the cells were cultured through 25 passages, they assumed a more fibroblastic appearance. Cellular invasion of the TCC by two species of turkey coccidia, Eimeria adenoeides and Eimeria meleagrimitis, was not enhanced, as compared with invasion in turkey kidney cells (TKC), the cell culture system standardly used to study the avian coccidia in vitro. However, early development by one of the species, E. meleagrimitis, was markedly increased in the TCC (Passages 6 through 19) over that in TKC. Thirty to 42% of the parasites that invaded the TCC developed beyond the sporozoite stage, as compared with 5% development in TKC. Mature first-generation schizonts were observed within 24 hr postinoculation in the TCC, but not until 48 hr in the kidney cells. There was no evidence that development of the second generation was initiated in either the TCC or kidney cells.