3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants
Abstract The Australian tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana is becoming increasingly popular as a platform for protein production and metabolic engineering. In this system, gene expression is achieved transiently by infiltrating N. benthamiana plants with suspensions of Agrobacterium tumefaciens car...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley-VCH
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Engineering in Life Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/elsc.202200001 |
| _version_ | 1811178350313472000 |
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| author | Ling Chuang Anton Enders Sascha Offermann Janina Bahnemann Jakob Franke |
| author_facet | Ling Chuang Anton Enders Sascha Offermann Janina Bahnemann Jakob Franke |
| author_sort | Ling Chuang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Australian tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana is becoming increasingly popular as a platform for protein production and metabolic engineering. In this system, gene expression is achieved transiently by infiltrating N. benthamiana plants with suspensions of Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying vectors with the target genes. To infiltrate larger numbers of plants, vacuum infiltration is the most efficient approach known, which is already used on industrial scale. Current laboratory‐scale solutions for vacuum infiltration, however, either require expensive custom‐tailored equipment or produce large amounts of biologically contaminated waste. To overcome these problems and lower the burden to establish vacuum infiltration in new laboratories, we present here 3D‐printed plant holders for vacuum infiltration. We demonstrate that our plant holders are simple to use and enable a throughput of around 40 plants per hour. In addition, our 3D‐printed plant holders are made from autoclavable material, which tolerate at least 12 autoclave cycles, helping to limit the production of contaminated waste and thus contributing to increased sustainability in research. In conclusion, our plant holders provide a simple, robust, safe and transparent platform for laboratory‐scale vacuum infiltration that can be readily adopted by new laboratories interested in protein and metabolite production in Nicotiana benthamiana. Practical application Transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana provides a popular and rapid system for producing proteins in a plant host. To infiltrate larger numbers of plants (typically >20), vacuum infiltration is the method of choice. However, no system has been described so far which is robust to use and can be used without expensive and complex equipment. Our autoclavable 3D‐printed plant holders presented here will greatly reduce the efforts required to adopt the vacuum infiltration technique in new laboratories. They are easy to use and can be autoclaved at least 12 times, which contributes to waste reduction and sustainability in research laboratories. We anticipate that the 3D printing design provided here will drastically lower the bar for new groups to employ vacuum infiltration for producing proteins and metabolites in Nicotiana benthamiana. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:17:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dab5db44017c42f0821fa011deecfba9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1618-0240 1618-2863 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:17:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley-VCH |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Engineering in Life Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-dab5db44017c42f0821fa011deecfba92022-12-22T04:41:01ZengWiley-VCHEngineering in Life Sciences1618-02401618-28632022-12-01221280381010.1002/elsc.2022000013D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plantsLing Chuang0Anton Enders1Sascha Offermann2Janina Bahnemann3Jakob Franke4Centre of Biomolecular Drug Research Leibniz University Hannover Hannover GermanyInstitute of Technical Chemistry Leibniz University Hannover Hannover GermanyInstitute of Botany Leibniz University Hannover Hannover GermanyInstitute of Technical Chemistry Leibniz University Hannover Hannover GermanyCentre of Biomolecular Drug Research Leibniz University Hannover Hannover GermanyAbstract The Australian tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana is becoming increasingly popular as a platform for protein production and metabolic engineering. In this system, gene expression is achieved transiently by infiltrating N. benthamiana plants with suspensions of Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying vectors with the target genes. To infiltrate larger numbers of plants, vacuum infiltration is the most efficient approach known, which is already used on industrial scale. Current laboratory‐scale solutions for vacuum infiltration, however, either require expensive custom‐tailored equipment or produce large amounts of biologically contaminated waste. To overcome these problems and lower the burden to establish vacuum infiltration in new laboratories, we present here 3D‐printed plant holders for vacuum infiltration. We demonstrate that our plant holders are simple to use and enable a throughput of around 40 plants per hour. In addition, our 3D‐printed plant holders are made from autoclavable material, which tolerate at least 12 autoclave cycles, helping to limit the production of contaminated waste and thus contributing to increased sustainability in research. In conclusion, our plant holders provide a simple, robust, safe and transparent platform for laboratory‐scale vacuum infiltration that can be readily adopted by new laboratories interested in protein and metabolite production in Nicotiana benthamiana. Practical application Transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana provides a popular and rapid system for producing proteins in a plant host. To infiltrate larger numbers of plants (typically >20), vacuum infiltration is the method of choice. However, no system has been described so far which is robust to use and can be used without expensive and complex equipment. Our autoclavable 3D‐printed plant holders presented here will greatly reduce the efforts required to adopt the vacuum infiltration technique in new laboratories. They are easy to use and can be autoclaved at least 12 times, which contributes to waste reduction and sustainability in research laboratories. We anticipate that the 3D printing design provided here will drastically lower the bar for new groups to employ vacuum infiltration for producing proteins and metabolites in Nicotiana benthamiana.https://doi.org/10.1002/elsc.202200001additive manufacturingagroinfiltrationautoclavable 3D printing materialNicotiana benthamianavacuum infiltration |
| spellingShingle | Ling Chuang Anton Enders Sascha Offermann Janina Bahnemann Jakob Franke 3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants Engineering in Life Sciences additive manufacturing agroinfiltration autoclavable 3D printing material Nicotiana benthamiana vacuum infiltration |
| title | 3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants |
| title_full | 3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants |
| title_fullStr | 3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | 3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants |
| title_short | 3D‐printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large‐scale protein production in plants |
| title_sort | 3d printed autoclavable plant holders to facilitate large scale protein production in plants |
| topic | additive manufacturing agroinfiltration autoclavable 3D printing material Nicotiana benthamiana vacuum infiltration |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/elsc.202200001 |
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