Techniques used in our plant cell culture research are
highlighted below.
Click on the following techniques for
description and pictures.
Subculturing
A fraction of the cells are transferred to fresh media every 14 days, a technique known as subculturing. The addition of fresh media allows nutrients necessary for growth to be replenished and metabolic by-products to be removed from the culture.
Extraction / Isolation &
Purification of
Desired Compounds
To determine the product profile in the cells, freeze-dried cells are extracted in alcohol to leach out compounds from the cells. This crude cell extract is then further purified to isolate and concentrate the fraction containing the compounds of interest.
Final Separation &
Quantification of
Desired Compounds
The fraction containing the compounds of interest is further separated using HPLC. The separated individual compounds are detected and quantified by measuring the UV absorbance. The above techniques allow us to determine the specific compounds produced from the cell cultures and their concentrations when the cultures undergo specific treatments.