In Vitro Cultivation of Theileria lawrencei-Intected Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines Derived from a Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)

A buffalo calf was obtained from a Theileria lawrencei enzootic area of Kenya and found to be carrying intra-erythrocytic theilerial piroplasms. Leucocytes were harvested from this buffalo by sedimentation of heparinized blood and cultured on bovine embryo spleen (BESP) feeder layers. After 18 to 42 days in culture, transformation occurred and the cultures gave rise to cell lines of lymphoblastoid cells injected with T. lawrencei macroschizonts. On chromosomal analysis, the infected cells were shown to be of buffalo origin. Eight separate isolates were made from the buffalo over a 5-month period. Similar cultures of buffalo leucocytes without a BESP feeder layer failed to transform.