Cell culture of the rice brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

The rice brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is one of the most destructive insect pests of rice in Asia. Although resistant rice varieties can be effective in managing planthopper populations, BPH has repeatedly been able to overcome resistant rice varieties. It is possible that BPH adaptation to resistant rice varieties may be related to its endosymbionts. We investigated methods for culturing BPH cells in order to study in-depth interactions between rice, BPH, and its endosymbionts. In this study, we tested EX-CELL™ 405, EX-CELL™ 420, Mitsuhashi and Maramorosch's medium, and Kimura's medium, for in vitro culture of BPH cells. Only Kimura's medium was found to be suitable for BPH cell culture, and BPH embryos around blastokinetic stage were the best source for BPH cell culture. Cells from BPH embryonic tissues adhered to the plate substrate, and the migration of cells was observed within 24 h in primary culture. After 3 mo of subculture, various types of BPH cells were successfully maintained in the Kimura's medium.