Animal cell culture assistance

[MSLADE at RNA.BIO.MQ.EDU.AU]

>To:            cell-biology at net.bio.net
>Subject:       Animal cell culture assistance
>From:          scholz at vfl.paramax.com (Bill Scholz)
>Date:          Tue, 11 Oct 1994 11:43:29 -0500
>
>Can anyone suggest a good animal (non-human) cell line that grows as a
>suspension without the need for a CO2 incubator?  I am looking for
>something that undergraduates with good sterile technique could work with. 
>Thanks.
>
>

Try the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum.  Some strains can easily 
be grown axenically in a peptone/yeast extract/glucose broth with a 12-18hr 
doubling time, ie cheap & quick.  Also fasinating biology.

Is a protist an animal cell or an animal in its own right?  Taxonomically 
Dictyostelium diverges roughly the same position as the plants and metazoa 
lineages diverged.