Identification of insect cell lines by DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF)

Fingerprint profiles were generated from twenty insect cell lines spanning the Orders, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera and Homoptera employing DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF) with arbitrarily selected primers. The fingerprint pattern is a stable characteristic of the cell line because high and low passages generated the same profile. In addition, insect hosts and homologous cell lines generated similar profiles. All cell lines could be distinguished from each other with the following exceptions: Plutella xylostella (BCIRL-PX2-HNU3) and Mamestra brassicae (IZD-MB-0503) produced identical patterns to Trichoplusia ni (TN-CL1). Also Spodoptera exigua (UCR-SE-1C) produced the same profile as Spodoptera frugiperda (SF9) and the parent cell line IPLB-SF21. All these cases of identical patterns are believed to be due to cross contamination or mislabelling of cultures. DAF will serve as an additional, valuable and reliable technique for the identification of insect cell lines.