Hybrid cells, infected with Theileria parva, formed by fusion of hamster and mouse cells with parasitised bovine lymphoid cells.

Bovine lymphoid cells from a culture line parasitised with Theileria parva were fused to mouse heart (MH) and baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells, grown as monolayers, using inactivated Sendai virus. The resultant heterokaryons contained macroschizonts of T parva. Macroschizonts also occurred in cells that apparently contained only BHK or MH nuclei. Parasites underwent varying degrees of development; in some cases microschizonts resulted, and in other cases massive atypical parasite masses were formed. Fusion occurred more readily between hamster and bovine cells than between mouse and bovine cells.