Enucleation of protoplasts derived from suspension cultures of winged bean and from a crown gall cell line ofParthenocissus tricuspidata

Protoplasts derived from suspension cultures of the winged bean and a crown gall lineof Parthenocissus tricuspidata were enucleated by centrifugation on iso-osmotic discontinuous Percoli gradients and on discontinuous sucrose-mannitol density gradients. Enucleation was achieved according to the buoyant density of the protoplasts and preparations of both cytoplasts and miniprotoplasts were recovered. The Percoll gradients gave more satisfactory results than the sucrose-mannitol gradients. Enucleation was increased by raising the centrifugal force from 20 kg to 60 kg. The presence of nuclei was determined by the DNA specific probe 4′6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Membrane integrity, as measured by staining with fluorescein diacetate, showed that some 85 % of the cytoplasts were bounded by an intact plasma membrane.     

A technique for bulk production of cytoplasts and miniprotoplasts from suspension culture-derived protoplasts

Protoplasts isolated from suspension cultures of atrazine resistant black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) a weed biotype, were enucleated by centrifugation through a stepwise mannitol/sucrose gradient. Two cytoplast, enucleated subprotoplast, bands were routinely formed: one, a minor band at the 6.4%/18.2% mannitol border containing highly vacuolate cytoplasts with 95%+ enucleation; secondly a major cytoplast band at the 18.2% mannitol/33% sucrose border containing 90%+ enucleated protoplasts in quantities up to 4 million per 50 ml gradient tube. Efficient production of cytoplasts depended on the subculture procedures used for the cell suspensions. Optimal cytoplast yield (44%) occurred for protoplasts isolated three days after subculture. The vigor of the donor suspension cultures as visually monitored had to be controlled in order to obtain consistently high enucleation percentages.Abbreviations CPW Cell and Protoplast Wash Solution - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - DMSO Dimethylsulfoxide - FDA Fluorescein diacetate - MS Murashige and Skoog medium (1962) - UM Uchimiya and Murashige medium (1976)     

Flavonoid biosynthesis in barley primary leaves requires the presence of the vacuole and controls the activity of vacuolar flavonoid transport

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) primary leaves synthesize saponarin, a 2-fold glucosylated flavone (apigenin 6-C-glucosyl-7-O-glucoside), which is efficiently accumulated in vacuoles via a transport mechanism driven by the proton gradient. Vacuoles isolated from mesophyll protoplasts of the plant line anthocyanin-less310 (ant310), which contains a mutation in the chalcone isomerase (CHI) gene that largely inhibits flavonoid biosynthesis, exhibit strongly reduced transport activity for saponarin and its precursor isovitexin (apigenin 6-C-glucoside). Incubation of ant310 primary leaf segments or isolated mesophyll protoplasts with naringenin, the product of the CHI reaction, restores saponarin biosynthesis almost completely, up to levels of the wild-type Ca33787. During reconstitution, saponarin accumulates to more than 90% in the vacuole. The capacity to synthesize saponarin from naringenin is strongly reduced in ant310 miniprotoplasts containing no central vacuole. Leaf segments and protoplasts from ant310 treated with naringenin showed strong reactivation of saponarin or isovitexin uptake by vacuoles, while the activity of the UDP-glucose:isovitexin 7-O-glucosyltransferase was not changed by this treatment. Our results demonstrate that efficient vacuolar flavonoid transport is linked to intact flavonoid biosynthesis in barley. Intact flavonoid biosynthesis exerts control over the activity of the vacuolar flavonoid/H(+)-antiporter. Thus, the barley ant310 mutant represents a novel model system to study the interplay between flavonoid biosynthesis and the vacuolar storage mechanism.     

High yields of cytoplasts from protoplasts of Lolium perenne and Beta vulgaris using gradient centrifugation

Methods for the isolation of cytoplasts from suspension culture-derived protoplasts of the monocot Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) and the dicot Beta vulgaris (sugarbeet) have been determined. After comparing a range of gradients it was found that a discontinuous sucrose/mannitol gradient gave the highest cytoplast yields for both species tested: of the protoplasts loaded onto the gradient, for Beta >30% and for Lolium up to 45% could be recovered as cytoplasts. Sufficient protoplasts could be loaded onto the gradient to produce suitable numbers of cytoplasts for use in asymmetric somatic hybridisation experiments. Cytoplasts could be isolated from several suspension cultures of different ages. The cytoplast fraction was recovered from the upper part of the gradient in all cases and was only slightly contaminated (2–8%) with protoplasts. Lolium cytoplasts were small, evacuolate cells with granular cytoplasm. In contrast, Beta cytoplasts were larger and predominantly vacuolate. Both contained mitochondria as determined using fluorescence staining.Abbreviations 2,4-d 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - M mannitol - S sucrose - P Percoll - S/M sucrose/mannitol gradient     

Isolation of protoplasts from the placental cells of Lycopersicum pimpinellifolium Mill

Living protoplasts were isolated from the interplacental regions of Lycopersicum pimpinellifolium berries by the removal of the walls from cells in tissue slices treated for 1–2 h with 10 % pectinase in 0.5 M sucrose solution. Protoplasts thus isolated, then washed and transferred to microculture chambers for observation were invariably spherical. Each protoplast contains a nucleus, a number of chloroplasts of variable shape and a vacuole with smaller vacuoles contained therein. Phase contrast optics reveal cytoplasmic granules, the size of mitochondria, which serve to indicate such dynamic processes as cyclosis. Treatment with ox bile salt and sodium lauryl sulphate cause rapid disruption of the protoplasts producing subprotoplasts and isolated tonoplasts and serves to confirm the absence of rigid cell walls.     

Organization of actin filaments in regenerating and outgrowing subprotoplasts from pollen tubes ofNicotiana tabacum L.

The dynamics of actin-filament organization in pollen-tube subprotoplasts ofNicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samsun during regeneration and outgrowth was examined using phalloidin probes and a non-fixation method. A succession of actin arrays was examined during subprotoplast regeneration that strongly resembled the actin dynamics described for developing microspores by Van Lammeren et al. (1989, Planta178, 531–539) and activated pollen by Tiwari and Polito (1988, Protoplasma147, 5–15). At the end of the succession the actin filaments often became extended between two opposite polar foci. The ordering of the cortical actin filaments reflected a polarity in the subprotoplasts which determined the plane of outgrowth. The site of outgrowth was often marked by a ring of actin filaments. As growth proceeded and tube-like structures were formed, the arrangement of cortical actin filaments was found to be transverse to the elongation axis. Since the patterns of actin distribution were identical in both caryoplasts and cytoplasts, it was concluded that the pollen-tube cytoplasm has the intrinsic capacity of reorganizing actin filaments and imposing polarity on the spherical subprotoplasts.     

Formation of cytoplasts from giant protoplasts in culture

Summary Protoplasts isolated from calli ofNicotiana plumbaginifolia can dramatically increase in volume without showing indications of cell wall synthesis. After reaching a critical size, the plasma-rich giant protoplasts show multiple formation of cytoplasts, which are released from the mother cells. The anucleate cytoplasts display the same increase in size as the nucleate protoplasts. Both cell types retain a spherical shape for several months, indicating that no major synthesis of cell wall occurred.     

Microtubules in maize leaf protoplasts in relation to donor tissue and in vitro culture

Summary Maize (Zea mays) leaf protoplasts were isolated from various leaves of two-week (4-leaf) seedlings and from sections of the third leaf blades. Microtubules (MTs) were visualized using immunofluorescence microscopy. Only freshly isolated protoplasts from the third and fourth leaf blades contained MTs, with protoplasts from the fourth leaf containing the most i.e. 13% of fourth-leaf protoplasts contained MTs. In general, protoplasts with fewer and smaller chloroplasts had more MTs. Initially 90–95% of protoplasts from basal portions of leaves had MTs but the percentage decreased slightly during culture particularly after 10 days. The antioxidant n-propyl gallate was beneficial in maintaining MT content. Few protoplasts from older sections intitially contained MTs but in all sections at least some protoplasts regained a significant MT content during culture (e.g., 10% of protoplast from the tip section possessed microtubules after 7 days of culture). Far fewer MTs were observed in individual leaf protoplasts than those isolated from suspension culture.Abbreviations BMS Black Mexican Sweet - MT microtubule - MtSB microtubule stabilizing buffer - PBS phosphate buffered saline     

Somatic hybridization experiments in solanaceous species

Summary Protoplasts were isolated from leaves of shoot cultures ofNicotiana tabacum var. Xanthi andPetunia hybrida, nuclei fromPetunia protoplasts and subprotoplasts from the liquid part of tomato pericarp. They were submitted in several combinations to agglutination by polyethyleneglycol (Kao and Michayluk, 1974) and to fusogenic treatment at pH 9 (Keller and Melchers, 1973) in calcium nitrate solution (Binding, 1974a; Schieder, 1974a). The fate of heterospecific symplasms was investigated during subsequent culture in medium NT-A (Nagata-Takebe medium, modification A: Binding, 1975) and in medium V47 (Binding, 1974b). Cell divisions occurred in tobacco +Petunia andPetunia + tomato symplasms which contained only a few tomato chromoplasts. Incompatibility is supposed to be responsible for the failure of divisions in tobacco + tomato symplasms and inPetunia + tomato symplasms containing a large tomato subprotoplast. The advantage of subprotoplasts for hybridization experiments is discussed in comparison to protoplast fusion and organell transplantation. The experiments have been carried out in the Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung (Erwin-Bauer-Institut), Abteilung Straub, in K?ln-Vogelsang.     

Development of subprotoplasts from in vitro-grown tobacco pollen tubes

Summary Plasmolyzed pollen tubes of Nicotiana tabacum each released one to three subprotoplasts from their tips when treated with wall-degrading enzymes. Wall regeneration and the further development of the subprotoplasts were studied by both light and electron microscopy. Karyoplasts and cytoplasts incubated in a poor culture medium regenerated a cell wall within 60 min; cellulose microfibrils and callose were shown to be present. In 30%–40% of the cells, one-third of which were nucleate, cell chains and tubes developed by polar growth in a ratio of about 11. They sometimes reached a length 7–9 times the diameter of the former subprotoplast within 5 h of incubation. With longer incubation periods the cell wall became two-layered, its ultrastructure resembling that of the pollen tubes. The capacity of cytoplasts to regenerate a wall and develop cell chains and tubes can be explained by the properties ascribed to the cytoplasm of pollen tubes.Extended version of part of a contribution (poster) presented at the 14th International Botanical Congress, Berlin (West), July 1987.     

Isolation of cytoplasts from Satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.) and production of alloplasmic hybrid calluses via cytoplast–protoplast fusion

Cytoplasm of Satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.) is known to influence seedlessness. Transfer of cytoplasm to a seedy cultivar could possibly lead to the production of seedless citrus fruits. In the present paper cytoplasts were isolated from cell suspension-derived protoplasts of Satsuma mandarin via ultra-centrifugation in a discontinuous gradient. No nucleus could be detected in the cytoplasts by DAPI (4′, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining compared with normal protoplasts. The cytoplasts, with high viability and small size, did not divide during solid embedding culture. Cytoplasts of Satsuma mandarin were electrically fused with embryogenic protoplasts of Murcott tangor (C. reticulata × C. sinensis), which led to regeneration of several cell lines. Flow cytometry (FCM) indicated that the cell lines were diploids. Simple sequence repeats (SSR) and cleaved amplified polymorphism sequence (CAPS) showed that the cell lines got their nuclear DNA from the protoplast parent, whereas the cytoplast parent donated the mtDNA, confirming transfer of mtDNA from Satsuma mandarin into Murcott tangor via cytoplast–protoplast fusion though no polymorphism was detected in chloroplast DNA between the fusion partners. This is the first report on isolation and characterization of cytoplasts, together with cytoplast–protoplast fusion in Citrus, which has a potential for citrus cultivar improvement involving cytoplasm transfer via cytoplast–protoplast fusion.     

Plasmolysis of Pteridium protoplasts: A study using light and scanning-electron microscopy

A study was undertaken using gametophytes of the fern Pteridium aquilinum to examine the effects of plasmolysis on the topography of protoplasts. Methods are described whereby the surfaces of non-isolated protoplasts can be observed in the plasmolysed condition using scanning electron microscopy. Plasmolysed gametophytes were also examined in the light microscope using differential interference contrast and ultra-violet fluorescence microscopy after staining with fluorescein diacetate. With scanning electron microscopy, plasmolysed protoplast surfaces appeared smooth with no evidence of wrinkling or infolding of excess membrane. The formation of irregular-shaped protoplasts, protoplasmic threads, subprotoplasts, and protoplasmic networks covering internal wall surfaces all provided evidence for strong wall adhesion of the protoplasm. The availability of membrane for uptake into folds or vesicles is therefore thought to be minimal. Transmission electron microscopy showed some protoplasmic threads to be plasmodesmata, the remainder being cell-wall contact points. Remnants of these threads were occasionally observed on isolated protoplasts in both the light and electron microscopes.     

新疆杨愈伤组织原生质体的游离与纯化

目的:以愈伤组织为材料,研究新疆杨原生质体的游离、纯化。方法:以新疆杨愈伤组织为材料,采用简单试验设计和方差分析方法,对新疆杨原生质体游离的影响因素进行研究,并利用二乙酸荧光素染色法观察原生质体活力。结果:适宜新疆杨愈伤组织原生质体游离的较适宜条件是:CPW+2.0%纤维素酶R-10+1.0%离析酶R-10+1.0%果胶酶Y-23+0.6 mol/L甘露醇,酶解温度27℃,酶解时间8 h。在此条件下,原生质体产量达8.5×106个/(g.FW),活力达83.6%。原生质体纯化可采用蔗糖等密度离心法,较适蔗糖浓度为30%。结论:研究筛选出的酶解因素组合与等密度离心条件较适宜新疆杨愈伤组织原生质体的游离和纯化。     

Isolation of Pollen Protoplasts in Nicotiana tabacum

A new method for isolation of quantities of mature pollen protoplasts in Nicotiana tabacum has been established. The first step was to germinate mature pollen in Brewbaker and Kwack medium containing 20% sucrose. When most of the pollen grains had just germinated short pollen tubes, they were transferred to an enzymatic solution for the second step. The enzymatic solution contained 1% pectinase, 1% cellulase, 0.5% potassium dextran sulfate, 1 mol/L mannitol, 0.4 mol/L sorbitol in Dx medium with or without 15% Ficoll. The enzymes firstly degraded the pollen tube wall and then the intine. As a result, intact pollen protoplasts were released with the isolation rate up to 50%-70%. Factors affecting pollen protoplast isolation during the germination and maceration of pollen grains were studied. The suceees depended on two key points:pollen germination duration and osmotieum concentration. The optimal germination duration was 30 rain at 30℃. When it was too long, long pollen tubes formed and subsequently, large number of subprotoplasts instead of whole protoplasts were yielded, as the case reported by previous investigators. The optimal concentration of mannitol and sorbitol in enzyme solution was as high as 1.4 mol/L in total. Lowering of the osmoticum concentration resulted in decrease of percentage of pollen protoplasts.     

Assembly of Microtubules in a Cytoplasmic Extract of Tobacco BY-2 Miniprotoplasts in the Absence of Microtubule-Stabilizing Agents

The assembly of microtubules occurred even in the absence ofmicrotubule-stabilizing agents in a cytoplasmic extract obtainedfrom evacuolated protoplasts (miniprotoplasts) of tobacco BY-2 cells. The assembled microtubules were arranged side by sideforming big bundles and two types of bridge-like structure wereobserved between adjacent microtubules. (Received October 31, 1991; Accepted March 20, 1992)     

Isolation and Early in Vitro Development of Young Pollen Protoplasts in Nicotiana tabacum

For isolating young pollen protoplasts in Nicotiana tabacum. The authors had established two efficient enzymatic methods via anther preculture or pollen starvation pretreatment. Procedure of the first method included the following steps: 1. Cold pretreatment of flower buds with pollen at late unicellular to early bicellular stage; 2. Anther floating culture for pollen shedding into the culture medium followed by dehiscence of exine; 3. Enzymatic maceration of exine-dehisced pollen resulting in degradation of intine and release of pollen protoplasts in large quantity. Procedure of the second method involved the following steps: 1. Culture of pollen at middle bicellular in Kyo and Harada' B medium for starvation: 2. Enzymatic maceration of starvated pollen resulting in release of pollen protoplasts and subprotoplasts. Factors affecting the results of both methods as well as early in vitro developmental events of young pollen protoplasts were studied. The protoplasts could be induced either to trigger the first sporophytic division or to continue the gametophytic pathway leading germinatation of pollen tubes !ndicating their potentiality of inducing both sporophytic and gametophytic development of pathway. In rare instance a quite interesting phenomenon was observed that a pollen protoplast first divided into two daughter cells and one of which then germinated a pollen tube. It may insinuate that such pollen protoplasts initially induced a sporophytic pathway could reverse induce a gametophytic pathway.     

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.     

Mechanical release and lectin labeling of maize root protoplasts

Summary An improved method for the mechanical release of protoplasts from plant tissues is described. The historically-low yield of mechanically-released protoplasts is greatly increased by use of a simple electrically-driven tissue sheer and by optimization of various other steps in the procedure. As counted by light microscopy of a purified preparation, the number of mechanically-released protoplasts obtained is about 6×10⁴ per gram fresh weight of cortical tissue from the primary root of maize (Zea mays L. WF9×Mo 17) seedlings. Nuclear staining of the preparation, however, shows that about half of these protoplasts lack a nucleus and thus are actually subprotoplasts. Comparison of lectin binding to the plasma membranes of mechanically-and enzymatically-released protoplasts shows that both types contain binding sites forRicinus communis agglutinin. Binding sites for peanut (Arachis hypogaea) agglutinin are not naturally present on mechanically-released protoplasts but are generated by exposure to a mixture of Cellulysin and Pectolyase Y-23, the cell wall-degrading enzymes used to prepare enzymatically-released protoplasts.Abbreviations BSA bovine serum albumin - DDT dithiothreitol - gfw gram fresh weight - Mes 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid - PNA peanut (Arachis hypogaea) agglutinin - RCA Ricinus communis agglutinin - Tris tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane     

Isolation and characterization of cytoskeletons from cotton fiber cytoplasts

Summary Over the last 25 yr, success in characterizing the individual protein components of animal cytoskeletons was possible, in part, due to technical advances in the isolation and purification of anucleate cytoskeletons from animal cells. As a step towards characterizing protein components of the plant cytoskeleton, we have isolated cytoskeletons from cytoplasts (anucleate protoplasts) prepared from cotton fiber cells grown in ovule culture. Cytoplasts isolated into a hypertonic, Ca²⁺-free medium at pH 6.8 retained internal structures after extraction with the detergent, Triton X-100. These structures were shown to include microtubule and microfilament arrays by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. Actin and tubulin were the only abundant proteins in these preparations, suggesting that microfilaments and microtubules were the major cytoskeleta elements in the isolated cytoskeletons. The absence of additional, relatively abundant proteins suggests that (a) other cytoskeletal arrays potentially present in fiber cells (e.g., intermediate filaments) were either lost during detergent extraction or were minor components of the fiber cell cytoskeleton; and (b) high ratios of individual cytoskeletal-associated proteins relative to actin and tubulin were not required to maintain microtubules and microfilaments in organized structures.     

Studies on the plant cytoskeleton using miniprotoplasts of tobacco BY-2 cells

Vacuoles in plant cells can be eliminated by centrifugation of protoplasts through a density gradient. In this review, properties of evacuolated protoplasts, named ‘miniprotoplasts’, and the significant roles in plant cytoskeleton studies are described. Miniprotoplasts, prepared from tobacco BY-2 cells whose cell-cycle had been synchronized at late anaphase, continued to divide to form two daughter cells. In the presence of cytochalasin B cytokinetic cleavage was enhanced, suggesting a role of actin filaments in plant cytokinesis. In the cytoplasmic extract of miniprotoplasts both tubulin and actin could be polymerized to form microtubules (MTs) and actin filaments (AFs), respectively. A purification method for tubulin, actin and related proteins was developed using the extract. To investigate the interaction between cortical microtubules and the plasma membrane, an experimental system in which MTs were reconstructed on membrane ghosts was developed by combination of membrane ghosts and the extract.