Continuous tissue culture cell lines derived from chemically induced tumors of Japanese quail

Several continuous tissue culture cell lines were established from methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcomas of Japanese quail. The lines consist either of fibroblastic elements, round refractile cells or polygonal cells. They show transformed characteristics in agar colony formation and hexose uptake, and most are tumorigenic. Their cloning efficiency in plastic dishes is not increased over that of normal quail embryo fibroblasts. The quail tumor cell lines do not produce endogenous avian oncoviruses and fail to complement the Bryan high titer strain of Rous sarcoma virus; those tested lack the p27 protein of avian oncoviruses. Most of the cell lines are susceptible to subgroup A avian sarcoma viruses, but are relatively resistant to viruses of subgroups C, E and F as compared to normal quail embryo fibroblasts.