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Viability characterization of Taxus chinensis plant cell suspension cultures by rapid colorimetric- and image analysis-based techniques

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Abstract

For the commercially established process of paclitaxel production with Taxus chinensis plant cell culture, the size of plant cell aggregates and phenotypic changes in coloration during cultivation have long been acknowledged as intangible parameters. So far, the variability of aggregates and coloration of cells are challenging parameters for any viability assay. The aim of this study was to investigate simple and non-toxic methods for viability determination of Taxus cultures in order to provide a practicable, rapid, robust and reproducible way to sample large amounts of material. A further goal was to examine whether Taxus aggregate cell coloration is related to general cell viability and might be exploited by microscopy and image analysis to gain easy access to general cell viability. The Alamar Blue assay was found to be exceptionally eligible for viability estimation. Moreover, aggregate coloration, as a morphologic attribute, was quantified by image analysis and found to be a good and traceable indicator of T. chinensis viability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemical Engineering, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Gaußstraße 17, 38106, Brunswick, Germany

    Thomas Wucherpfennig, Annika Schulz, Christoph Wittmann & Rainer Krull

  2. Image Analysis Laboratory, Institute of Biotechnology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Mexico

    Jaime Arturo Pimentel & Gabriel Corkidi

  3. Phyton Biotech GmbH, Ahrensburg, Germany

    Dominik Sieblitz, Matthias Pump, Gilbert Gorr & Kai Schütte

Authors
  1. Thomas Wucherpfennig
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  2. Annika Schulz
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  3. Jaime Arturo Pimentel
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  4. Gabriel Corkidi
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  5. Dominik Sieblitz
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Correspondence to Rainer Krull.

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Wucherpfennig, T., Schulz, A., Pimentel, J.A. et al. Viability characterization of Taxus chinensis plant cell suspension cultures by rapid colorimetric- and image analysis-based techniques. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37, 1799–1808 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1153-1

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