LAUSR

Culturing insect cells in vitro has witnessed remarkable growth in the past decades. Over 600 cell lines of dipteran, hemipteran, and lepidopteran insects have been reported so far. Besides its wide adoption for the production of recombinant proteins, viral pesticides, and vaccines, insect cell culture is increasingly being used as a tool for basic research in genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and virology. Since its first application in plant virus studies in 1956, insect cell culture has become an indispensable tool to study the complex and intimate interactions of plant viruses and their insect vectors. The in vitro cell cultures of several insect vectors of plant viruses including leafhoppers, planthoppers, aphids, thrips, and whiteflies have been successfully employed to understand the functions of viral proteins and receptor-mediated endocytosis into vector cells. This review summarizes the development of novel media and insect cell culture systems and their applications in plant virus research.