The 293 cell line that was generated by transforming human embryonic kidney cells with human adenovirus type 5 (HAV5) early region 1 (E1) sequences is an excellent host for generating and growing HAV5 recombinants with E1 deleted, but it does not support the replication of bovine adenovirus type 3 (BAV3). Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK), an established bovine cell line, is an excellent host for growing and plaquing BAV3. For the purpose of combining the unique characteristics of these two cell lines (293 and MDBK), we generated a number of bovine Ű human hybrid (BHH) cell lines. Comparison of three BHH hybrid clones-BHH3, BHH8, and BHH2C-with 293-Puro (puromycin-resistant 293 cells) and MDBK-Neo (G418-resistant MDBK cells) cell lines for total cellular DNA content, species-specific surface markers, isoenzyme analysis, and karyotyping indicate that they are hybrid in nature. BHH clones constitutively expressed the E1 proteins (E1A, E1B-21kDa, and E1B-55kDa) of HAV5 and efficiently supported the replication of both wild-type and replication-incompetent bovine or human adenoviruses. Transient gene expression experiments with a plasmid encoding the bacterial â€-galactosidase gene demonstrated that BHH cell hybrids seem to have better transfection efficiencies than either of the parental cell lines. These cell lines will be useful for isolating and growing replication-competent human or bovine adenovirus recombinants with E1 deleted and for the study of cellular or viral factors important for viral replication. The development of somatic cell hybrids appears to be a simple way of combining some of the desirable characteristics present separately in two parental cell lines.The most widespread use of somatic cell hybrids is the formation of hybridomas for monoclonal antibody production. They are generated by the fusion of antibody-producing lymphocytes from a mouse or rat immunized with an antigen of interest with a myeloma cell line (1, 29). Production of interand intraspecific cell hybrids by means of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced fusion for extending the life of mammalian cells has been demonstrated (42). Somatic cell hybrids have also been used as tools for studying the chromosomal assignment of genes (12,26,27), mapping normal as well as tumorrelated genes (47), and localizing the site-specific integration of adeno-associated proviral DNA into human chromosome 19 (31, 49). Hybridization between bovine Ï« rodent, mouse, or hamster were exploited for the mapping of bovine genes (51), and bovine Ï« mouse hybrid cells were used for studying the replication of mengo virus (7,30,55).Adenoviral early region 1 (E1) genes are the first set of the genes that are expressed and are necessary for virus replication (22, 50). Adenovirus recombinants with E1 deleted are routinely produced and grown in a permissive cell line that constitutively expresses E1 proteins (17). The 293 cell line constitutively expresses E1 proteins and was derived from human embryonic kidney cells after transformation with human adenovirus type 5 (HA...