ABSTRACT
Helianthus tuberosus cell suspension cultures were subjected to cryopreservation 24h preculture treatments with 0.5M sucrose or mannitol. Extracts were assayed for transglutaminase activity and the level of alpha-tubulin tyrosination. There was a significant reduction (compared with the non-precultured controls) in transglutaminase activity and alpha-tubulin tyrosination state after mannitol preculture treatment, whereas sucrose preculture treatment produced no significant effect. The results suggest that reduced levels of transglutaminase activity and alpha-tubulin tyrosination are associated with a lack of post-thaw recovery observed following mannitol preculture treatment of cell culture suspensions. These activities may represent useful molecular markers of the success of preculture treatments in cryopreservation protocols.
