Efficient protoplast regeneration for some homofermentative lactobacilli and pediococci

Conditions for protoplast regeneration were examined for several strains of homofermentative lactobacilli and pediococci isolated from silage. Attempts to regenerate protoplasts using previously published agar regeneration media for lactobacilli were unsuccessful for most of the strains. Replacing or increasing colloidal substances in a medium containing raffinose and MgCl(2) as osmotic stabilizers enabled efficient regeneration of the protoplasts at a frequency of 10-99%. A medium containing gelatin, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and no agar was effective for Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus pentosus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus protoplasts. An agar medium containing PVP (PVP medium) was effective for Pediococcus sp. protoplasts, and addition of agarose to the PVP medium enabled regeneration of Lactobacillus casei protoplasts. A medium containing calcium alginate gel and no agar was effective for Lactobacillus curvatus protoplasts. The type of colloidal substance required for protoplast regeneration varied from species to species. This result suggested that several kinds of media may be necessary to regenerate protoplasts for all the genera of lactobacilli and pediococci.     

Development of protoplasts of Streptomycetes on media favoring the regeneration and formation of L-forms

The protoplasts of three Streptomyces species and their regenerative ability were studied using light microscopy. When Streptomyces lividans and S. erythraeus protoplasts are cultivated on regeneration media, their regeneration is not synchronous during the first day; some protoplasts revert to yield the mycelial form and also L-forms of these cultures are produced. If the protoplasts are transferred to a medium inducing L-forms, they grow and multiply for a long time with the production of L-form colonies. This process is maintained if S. lividans L-form cells are passaged on the medium inducing L-forms, but the protoplasts revert to yield the mycelial form on the regeneration medium.     

Isolation,Culture and Plant Regeneration of Protoplasts from an Embryogenic Callus Tissue of Gossypium hirsutum

Protoplasts were isolated and cultured from hypocotyl embryogenic callus tissue of Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. "Lumian 6". The highest yields of viable protoplasts were obtained from a vigorous embryogenic callus 7 to 9 d old subcultured on MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/L IAA and 1 mg/L KT using a solution of 1% cellulase Onozuka R-10, 1% pectinase, 0.7 mmol/L KH2PO4, 2.5 mmol/L Ca2+ , and 0.5 mol/L osmoticum (mannitol), at pH 5.8 and at a temperature of 30 ℃. After separation and purification (in 21% sucrose floatation medium), the protoplasts were laid up in a quiet liquid protoplast culture medium containing K3 salts, NT vitamins with 0.1 mg/L 2,4-D, 0.2 mg/L KT and 0.45 mol/L glucose for 10 to 15 min. The protoplasts were fractioned into an upper and a lower layer in the centrifugal tube. Most of the protoplasts in the lower layer were smaller, round and rich in cytoplasts in which contain many granular substances. When this kind of protoplasts were cultured in the thin liquid protoplast culture medium with a density of 1 x l0s to 5 x los protoplasts/mL, the division and the callus formation of the regenerated cells were easily observed. The first divisions occurred in 3 days and small cell clusters could be seen after 2 to 3 weeks in the culture. At this moment, the addition of the protoplast culture medium with decreased osmoticum once or twice is needed for the continuous protoplasts division to form calli. Regenerated calli, 3 to 5 mm in diameter, were transferred in succession on MS medium with 2 mg/L IAA and 1 mg/L KT for the initiation of embryogenesis. The embryoids germinated on the hormonefree MS medium and a number of plantlets were obtained. It seems that using vigorous embryogenic callus and decreasing osmoticum are the two critical factors for plant regeneration of cotton protoplasts.     

Response to chilling of tomato mesophyll protoplasts

Freshly isolated protoplasts from tomato leaves show two completely different responses to a chilling treatment of 12 h at 7° C prior to culture at 29° C, depending on the presence or absence of glucose in the medium. In the culture medium with glucose as osmoticum, where the rate of cell divisions under optimal culture conditions is relatively high (about 20% plating efficiency), protoplasts were drastically injured by the chilling procedure and died. In the medium with mannitol as the osmoticum instead of glucose, where the plating efficiency even under optimal conditions is rather low (about 8%), protoplasts withstand the chilling procedure. More-over, after the chilling treatment when the protoplasts were transferred to the optimal culture temperature of 29° C, the plating efficiency was raised to about 20%, which is the same level as in the glucose-containing medium without chilling. This effect was not observed when the medium in which the protoplasts were suspended during the chilling period was replaced with fresh medium. This suggests that under these conditions tomato protoplasts produce and excrete a factor in the cold that improves the vitality of the cells or stimulates cell division. The possible relationship between chilling sensitivity of tomato protoplasts and their ability to divide will be discussed.     

Isolation and Identification of Ciliatine (2-Aminoethylphosphonic Acid) from Lipids of Edible Antarctic Krill,Euphausia superba

An improved method for regenerating Bacillus subtilis protoplasts at the frequency of 92～100% on a semi-synthetic medium was found. Protoplasts were preincubated in HCP-3 medium, an isotonic semi-synthetic medium supplemented with polyvinylpyrrolidone, and then plated on HCP-1.5 agar medium by overlaying. By this method, even on the regeneration medium supplemented with minimal nutritional requirements protoplasts regenerated at a frequency of as high as 20%. The modified method was applicable to the direct-selection of prototrophic recombinants after fusion (the highest recombination yield from the input protoplasts was 1.3%) and to protoplast transformation with plasmid DNA.     

Effects of nutrients,cell density and culture techniques on protoplast regeneration and early protonema development in a moss,Physcomitrella patens

To regenerate auxotrophic mutants of Physcomitrella patens, two media of increasing complexity were developed. The survival rate of protoplasts was around 30% higher on full medium when compared to standard minimal medium. Protoplast survival was higher in a medium containing 2.5 mmol/L ammonium tartrate compared to a medium with 5 mmol/L of this compound. Solid medium had a positive effect on protoplast survival compared to either liquid medium or solid medium overlaid with cellophane; the maximum survival rate being 31.6%. However, the number of surviving protoplasts without any cell division during the first ten days increased on solid medium. Density and survival rate of protoplasts were positively correlated, but the formation of long protonema filaments decreased markedly. The effect of different protoplast densities could be explained partly by physiologically active compounds excreted into the medium.     

A method for the microinjection and culture of protoplasts at very low densities

A method has been developed which allows the recovery of calli from a high proportion of individual, injected, mesophyll protoplasts of Nicotiana tabacum c.v. Xanthi. A small drop of low melting point agarose is used both to hold protoplasts during microinjection and for their subsequent culture in feeder dishes. The feeder dishes consist of "beads" of protoplasts at a high density set in agarose to "feed" the infected protoplasts across a liquid medium.The method has been used successfully both with normal protoplasts and protoplasts from which the vacuole has been removed.Abbreviations NT medium Nagata-Takebe medium (Nagata and Takebe, 1971) - MS medium Murashige-Skoog medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) - NAA 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid - BAP 6-Benzylaminopurine - LMP agarose low melting point agarose     

Growth of Streptococcal Protoplasts and L-Colonies on Membrane Filters

Membrane filters (Millipore Corp.; pore sizes 1.2 to 0.22 mum) were placed on the surface of L-phase growth medium solidified with agar. The filter and the surrounding medium were inoculated with either protoplasts or stable broth-grown L-phase variants obtained from Streptococcus faecium strain F24. The L-phase inoculum gave rise to viable L-colonies on the filters and on the medium, whereas protoplasts gave colony formation only on the medium. However, when the Millipore filters were covered by a layer of solid L-phase medium, 75 mum or greater in depth, before inoculation with protoplasts, colony formation resulted but with atypical morphology. In contrast, inoculation of protoplasts on Nuclepore and Sartorius membrane filters did give rise to L-colonies on the surface and underneath the filters after 2 days of incubation at 37 C. Submicroscopic, viable L-phase elements produced during colony formation were capable of passing through membrane filters with pore channels as small as 0.22 mum; these elements required transfer from underneath the filters to fresh agar medium in order to develop into L-phase colonies. Membrane filters were also placed on the surface of L-phase growth medium solidified with gelatin. Inoculation of the filters and surrounding medium with a lysozyme-prepared protoplast suspension gave rise to streptococci on the surface of the filters and on the medium. However, inoculation with the stable broth-grown L-phase variants gave rise to atypical colonies on the medium and only small patches of abortive growth on the filters.     

An efficient and rapid procedure for plantlet regeneration from chicory mesophyll protoplasts

An efficient procedure for plantlet regeneration from chicory mesophyll protoplasts has been developed in order to perform protoplast fusion experiments. Protoplasts were isolated from a genotype of Italian red chicory (CH 363) and purified by centrifugation in a solution containing 13% (w/v) sucrose to collect uniform protoplasts in size. After 2 days culture at a density of 2×10⁴ protoplasts ml⁻¹ of liquid medium, protoplasts were cultured following three different procedures: in liquid medium, stratified in semi-solid medium, and embedded in Ca-alginate droplets. Four different media were used and culture procedures were evaluated recording the protoplast viability, protoplast division frequency and plating efficiency for each experiment. The embedding of protoplasts in Ca-alginate droplets enhanced both division frequency and plating efficiency for chicory mesophyll cells. Furthermore, this procedure shortened the cycle of plant regeneration from protoplasts, which could be completed in eight weeks. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A procedure for regenerating Japonica and Indica varieties of rice from protoplasts

Fertile rice plants have been regenerated from protoplasts of two japonica rice varieties (Radon and Baldo) using a protocol initially developed for plant regeneration from protoplasts of an indica rice. Embryogenic calli were developed from immature embryos of Radon and Baldo rice on a callus induction medium, and then used to establish cell suspensions. Protoplasts were isolated from the cell suspensions, and cultured on a Millipore filter placed on a Kao/agarose medium that contained cell clusters from suspensions of IR52 or IR45. The protoplasts grew vigorously on Kao medium and developed into embryogenic calli within two to three weeks. Somatic embryo development occurred during a subsequent transfer of the calli to an LS medium for two to three weeks. The calli were then transferred to MS or N6 plant regeneration medium, and within one to three weeks, plants regenerated from 21 to 32% of the Radon calli, and 33 to 35% of the Baldo calli. Based upon these results and the previous success in regenerating an indica variety from protoplasts, this procedure has great promise for regenerating a range of rice varieties, and probably for regeneration of other monocotyledonous plants from protoplasts     

Regeneration of the cell wall of protoplasts of the fission yeastSchizosaccharomyces versatilis in liquid media and their reversion to cells

Regeneration of the cell wall and reversion of protoplasts with a completely regenerated cell wall to cells were studied by light and electron microscopy in protoplasts of the fission yeastsSchizosaccharomyces versatilis. On their surface the protoplasts regenerated a complete new wall even m liquid media The wall regeneration began with the formation of a thin irregular net of flat bundles of long microfibrils and the net was gradually filled with aggregates of short straight microfibrils and small piles of amorphous material. Osmotically resistant organisms with regenerated walls were detected after a 4–6 h cultivation Depending on the nutrient medium used 10–80 % of protoplasts with the regenerated wall were obtained that reverted subsequently to cells. The high percentage of the wall regeneration and reversion to cells was reached by combining cultivation in a poor medium with that in a rich medium Reversion to cells could only occur after the protoplasts had regenerated rigid cell walls These walled protoplasts underwent septation, and, by polar growth, produced cylindrical cells, further dividing by fission.     

Isolation and culture of barley megasporocyte protoplasts

An efficient technique has been developed for the isolation of barley megasporocyte protoplasts at early meiotic prophase. Ovules were dissected out of ovaries under aseptic conditions, subjected to a brief enzymatic digestion, and then transferred to a modified Kao medium with 90 g/l sucrose and 20 mM CaCl₂. A small incision was made with a scalpel through the softened epidermal cell layer of the nucellus and the megasporocyte could then be liberated into the medium by applying gentle pressure on the nucellus. The megasporocyte appeared to be completely devoid of a wall and changed its in situ pyriform shape to completely spherical when extruded into the medium. Four to nine protoplasts could typically be isolated per spike. Protoplasts cultured in medium degenerated after a few days. Viability was dramatically improved if protoplasts were co-cultivated with barley microspores undergoing microspore embryogenesis. More than half of the protoplasts were still alive after 6 days of culture, and in some cases they survived more than 12 days of culture. Fluorescence microscopy of the cultured protoplasts stained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) or aniline blue revealed that the protoplasts remained uninuclear and reformed their callose wall.     

米曲霉两株营养缺陷型原生质体的形成和再生的条件实验*

采用1%溶壁酶加1%玛瑙螺酶(褐云玛瑙螺消化液的冷冻干粉)的混合酶,自米曲霉(Aspergillus oryzae)的两株营养缺陷型中获得了大量的原生质体,并比较了渗透压稳定剂、温度、菌丝体的培养基成分等因素对原生质体形成和再生的作用。无机盐类稳定剂(NaCl、KCl)获得了高产量的原生质体,而有机类(蔗糖、甘露醇、山梨醇)做为稳定剂不甚理想。对120和720菌株的原生质体在高渗再生培养基上进行再生试验,再生率分别为52%和65%。     

Application of protoplast fusion technique to genetic recombination of Micromonospora rosaria

The optimum conditions for efficient formation and regeneration of Micromonospora rosaria protoplasts have been determined. The state of inoculum culture and stage of growth in a medium containing partially growth-inhibiting concentrations of glycine had significant effects on protoplasting. A high frequency of regeneration was accomplished with a hypertonic regeneration agar medium. A slight difference was found in the optimum culture age for formation and regeneration of protoplasts. Protoplast fusion was carried out using these optimum conditions. The recombinant frequency varied from 0.7 to 5.9% in the intraspecific crosses employing single and multiple auxotrophic markers. Electron microscopy showed stable and intact protoplasts when they were prepared with a hypertonic buffer. However, many protoplasts were shown to be damaged and many membraneous vesicles were observed when prepared in buffer without sucrose. The fusion process of protoplasts of Micromonospora was observed with the aid of electron microscopy.     

Mitotic protoplasts and their infection with tobacco mosaic virus RNA encapsulated in liposomes

M-phase and S-phase protoplasts were prepared from tobacco cells in suspension culture after a high degree of synchronization using aphidicolin, a specific inhibitor for eukaryotic DNA polymerase. When TMV-RNA was introduced into these protoplasts mediated by REV liposomes, 37% of M-phase and 26% of S-phase protoplasts were infected as determined by the fluorescent antibody technique. After the 24 hr interval between the introduction of TMV-RNA into protoplasts and the determination of infection, half of the infected mitotic protoplasts formed dumbell-shaped daughter cells. The significance of synchronized protoplasts in genetic engineering of plant cells is discussed in reference to the delivery of DNA into the nucleus.Abbreviation LS medium, Linsmaier and Skoog medium - PEG polyethylene glycol - REV reversephase evaporation vesicles - TMV tobacco mosaic virus     

Preparation and characteristics of protoplasts of Streptomyces kanamyceticus

To prepare actively regenerating protoplasts of S. kanamyceticus, the influence of the conditions of the mycelium cultivation, the culture age, lytic conditions, composition of the regeneration medium, the procedure of the culture inoculation to the regeneration medium and other parameters were studied. The study resulted in development of optimal conditions for preparation of S. kanamyceticus protoplasts in a number of 1.10(9) protoplasts per ml. The cultivation on the ST medium with 10 to 15% sucrose and addition of glycine up to 1% for 30 hours (the stationary growth phase) followed by treatment of the culture with lysozyme in an amount of 2 mg/ml for 1 hour at 32 degrees C provided preparation of up to 100% of actively regenerating protoplasts free of mycelium fragments. The size of the protoplasts increased up to 1.5 micron against the usually observed size of 0.7 to 1.0 micron with using modified lyzing buffer with 20% of sucrose according to the method recommended for S. erythreus. However, 50 to 70% of the protoplasts had point of linear regions in the cell walls, which suggested that spheroplasts were mainly forming and the phenomenon was associated with the characteristic properties of the strain cell wall structure.     

Cell fusion between L-forms and protoplasts of Staphylococcus aureus

Mixtures of various combinations of Lysostaphin protoplasts and stable L-forms of Staphylococcus aureus, which have different markers for drug resistance, were treated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to examine the development of doubly resistant fusion products (fusants). To recover doubly resistant colonies as L-forms, they were incubated in 4.5% NaCl-brain heart infusion (BHI) broth containing penicillin G (PCG) for enrichment culture and cultured in PCG-4.5% NaCl-BHI agar medium (method 1), while to recover doubly resistant fusants as L-forms and coccal forms, they were grown on reversion medium (R medium) which causes reversion of protoplasts or fusants to parent type cells, and then cultured on assay media, i.e., R medium, BHI agar medium or PCG-4.5% NaCl-BHI agar medium (method 2). Under both experimental conditions, doubly resistant fusants developed as L-form cells by PEG treatment of pairs of protoplasts carrying the chloramphenicol (CP)-resistance plasmid and L-forms having chromosomal resistance to streptomycin (SM). In the reverse combinations, i.e., protoplasts showing chromosomal SM-resistance and L-form cells carrying the CP-resistance plasmid, the first method gave no doubly resistant colonies. By the second method, without enrichment culture on R medium, the latter combination gave doubly resistant fusants as L-form, coccal-type and mixed-type colonial forms, while when the PEG-treated mixture was enriched on R medium, fusants were obtained exclusively as the coccal type on either R medium or BHI agar assay medium. Neither of the methods yielded colonies of doubly resistant fusants on PEG-treatment of pairs of protoplasts and L-forms both of which were chromosomal, but with different drug resistances. These results show that PEG-induced cell fusion between protoplasts and L-forms of S. aureus, unlike the fusion between protoplasts or between L-forms, resulted in transfer of the drug resistance controlled by the plasmid to the fusion products. The fusants obtained were L-forms in method 1, and coccal type in the method 2.     

Transfer of isolated nuclei into protoplasts ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae

Cell nuclei were prepared from protoplasts of an adenine-requiring strain ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae, then purified in a discontinuous sucrose gradient, and applied to protoplasts of a recipient strain auxotrophic for uracil, leucine, and histidine. The transfer of the isolated nuclei into protoplasts was induced with polyethylene glycol. The main products of nuclear transfer in young complemented colonies were heterokaryons giving rise to parental type spontaneuos segregants on nutritionally complete medium. After several passages in minimal medium, however, the prototrophic colonies consisted exclusively of stable heterozygous diploid cells.     

Involvement of an acid phosphatase on cell wall regeneration of tobacco protoplasts

Tobacco protoplasts begin to regenerate their own cell walls, the major components of which are β-glucans, soon after they are transferred into an adequate medium. During the cell wall regeneration the protoplasts secrete two isoforms of acid phosphatase (APase) in time-dependent manner. We determined that one of the isoforms, the Brefeldin A (BFA) sensitive one, is the cell wall resident APase (WP-II) by immunoblotting of the isoform with anti-WP-II antibody. We hypothesized that the WP-II may participate in the deposition of β-glucan microfibrils on the protoplast surface during cell wall regeneration. In order to examine this hypothesis, the protoplasts were cultivated in the cell wall regeneration medium containing the same amount of the BFA-sensitive APase (230 µg protein) as is secreted by the observed number of protoplasts (1.4 × 10⁵ protoplasts) per plate (30-mm-diameter) during a 3-h cultivation after transfer to the cell wall regeneration medium. The addition of WP-II to the cell wall regeneration medium stimulated the deposition of β-glucan microfibrils on the surface of the protoplasts during cell wall regeneration. To determine the stimulative effect of the 60 kDa polypeptide of WP-II, protoplasts were cultivated in the medium containing the amount of anti-WP-II IgG (230 µg protein) equivalent to the BFA-sensitive APase. These results suggested that the 60 kDa polypeptide of WP-II is the BFA-sensitive APase which is responsible for the enhanced deposition of β-glucan microfibrils on the surface of the protoplasts.     

Optimisation of Protoplast Production in White Lupin

The influence, was investigated, of abiotic parameters on the isolation of protoplasts from in vitro seedling cotyledons of white lupin. The protoplasts were found to be competent in withstanding a wide range of osmotic potentials of the enzyme medium, however, −2.25 MPa (0.5 M mannitol), resulted in the highest yield of protoplasts. The pH of the isolation medium also had a profound effect on protoplast production. Vacuum infiltration of the enzyme solution into the cotyledon tissue resulted in a progressive drop in the yield of protoplasts. The speed and duration of orbital agitation of the cotyledon tissue played a significant role in the release of protoplasts and a two step (stationary-gyratory) regime was found to be better than the gyratory-only system. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.