Plant cell laboratory, fruit laboratory and greenhouse trials

The facility offers laboratory and greenhouse-based services for research and teaching in plant biology, including cell and tissue culture, molecular biology, protein and metabolite analyses, quality controls and controlled plant trials.

Contact info

Manikandan Veerabagu

Email: manikandan.veerabagu@nmbu.no

Telefon: +47 67 23 26 31

Address

Opening hours

Kl 08:00 - 15:45

15. May - 14. September:
Kl 08:00 - 15:00

About plant cell laboratory, fruit laboratory and greenhouse trials

The facility offers a wide range of laboratory and greenhouse-based services for research and teaching in plant biology and plant science. The Plant Cell Laboratory offers advanced experimental methods in cell and tissue culture, molecular biology, protein and cell biology, and biochemical analyses. This includes analyses of gene expression, proteins, metabolites and pigments, preparation for microscopy and work with transgenic organisms, including gene editing (CRISPR).

The Fruit laboratory provides quality analyses of fruit, berries and vegetables, focusing on properties such as colour, firmness, antioxidant content and vitamin C. Common analyses include sugar and acid content, colour measurements on juice and products, gas exchange, dry matter, firmness and starch. Other analyses include FRAP, phenolic content, anthocyanins, vitamin C and the effects of hot water treatment.

The greenhouse trials offer services related to controlled plant trials, including monitoring and recording growth, environmental conditions and plant development. Typical analyses include measurements of chlorophyll, fluorescence, light conditions (irradiance and spectrum), conductivity and pH in soil and fertiliser water, as well as assessment of the plants' general condition and development.

Fruit laboratory
The laboratory performs quality analyses on fruit, berries and vegetables. We provide analyses where we measure colour, firmness, antioxidant and vitamin C content, among other things.
The lab is located at the top of Åsbakken, inside the red house in Kirkeveien 8. At the lab, we specialise in delivering analyses on the quality of fruit, berry and vegetable products, as well as other plant products.
Booking
Fruit laboratory is one of NMBU's rental locations, and follows NMBU's rental location model.
Please contact us for price estimates.
Services and equipment
We have HPLC systems, high-tech spectrophotometry (KoneLab), O2/CO2 measurement tools and more for a wide range of analyses. We perform analyses for NMBU, external actors and for teaching in plant and food science.
Traditional analyses:
- Sugar content
- Acid content
- Colour measurements
  - -Juice
  - -Product
- Gas exchange measurements
- Dry matter
Other analyses:
- FRAP
- Phenol content
- Anthocyanins
- Vitamin C
- Hot water treatment
- Firmness measurement
- Starch
KoneLab for measuring antioxidants, total phenols, anthocyanins etc.
HPLC-system for measuring vitamin C, among other things.et vitamin C.
CheckMate3 for measuring gas exchange (O₂/CO₂)
Plant Cell Lab
The Plant Cell Laboratory at Biovit is a research laboratory for research and teaching carried out by research groups within plant biology.
Field of work and laboratory analysis
- Cell- and tissue culture (solid- and liquid cultures, bioreactors)
- Molecular biology (gene sequences and gene transcript sequences, analyses of gene expression, copy number variation (CNV), CPD-DNA, in situ hybridization, and other standard molcular work)
- Protein (Western-blot analyses, ELISA)
- Cell biology ( preparation for microscopy, immunolocalisation, light microscopy)
- Biochemistry analysis (carbohydrates, enzymes (Catalase, SOD etc), antioxidant, pigments and other metabolites)
- Transgenic organisms (create and working with GMOs, gene editing/CRISPR)
Teaching in Plant Cell Lab
The Plant Cell Lab is used for teaching several student courses in plant biotechnology. These are 200 and 300 courses that depend on the facilities and instruments in the laboratory.
The master and PhD students use the lab for their projects in plant biotechnology and plant biology.
The lab is also used for preparation for student courses in plant physiology and genetics.
Instruments and equipments
Cell- and Tissue cultures
Equipment for making nutrient media.
Autoclave etc
Sterile rooms (4)
Laminair air flow benches (LAF) (8) and LAF Biohazard bench (1)
Growt rooms for cell- and tissue cultures(3)
Light 20°C, Light 23°C, Dark 23°C
Bioreactors (6)
6 x 2 liters
Instruments - microcopes
Light Microscopes
Leica DM 5000B fluorescens microscope with camera (Leica DFC 425) connected to a computer with image analysis software (LAS), manuell multifocus.
Fluorescens filters: UV (A), Blue(I3), Green(N2
Two old microscope, upright (1) and invert (1) for liquid tissue culture
Stereo Microscopes
Leica M205 with automatic multifocus and camera/software like DM 5000B.
Leica MZFLIII fluorescens with camera (Leica DC 300F) connected to a computer with image analysis software.
Fluorescens filters: UV, GFP2(Plus fluorescens), GFP3 (Plant fluorescens)
Routine manual stereo microscopes (10)
Instruments - molcular biology
TissueLyser II. Rapid Cell & Tissue Homogenization
DNA/RNA UV-cleaner. PCR-cabinet for master-mix.
DNA gel electrophoresis equipment
Bioanalyzer
Aglient 2100 bioanalyzer. Check the quality of RNA/DNA, also the quantity.
Bioanalyzer
(Photo: Aglient Technologies)
PCR systems
PCR systems
Quantitative PCR. 7500 Fast Real-Time PCR System, Applied Biosystem
C1000 Touch Thermal Cycler, Biorad. End-point PCR, capabilities to run gradient PCR.
T100 Thermal Cycler. End-point PCR, capabilities to run gradient PCR (2)
QPCR
(Photo: Thermo Fisher Scientific)
QX200 Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR), BioRad
Applications like Gene Expression, CRISPR analysis,
Copy number variation (CNV), rare event/mutation detection
ddPCR
(Photo: Bio Rad Laboratories)
Proteins
Protein Electrophoresis. Mini-PROTEAN systems, Bio-Rad.
Western Blot. Trans-Blot Turbo Transfer system, Bio-Rad. Rapid transfer.
Imaging systems
Chemi-Doc MP, Bio-Rad. Gel or western blot imaging. Multiplex fluorescent western blotting, chemiluminiscence detection, geldocumentation, stain-free tecnology.
Chemi-Doc MP
(Photo: Bio Rad Laboratories)
Fluorometer
Qubit assays, Life. Accurately quantifies DNA, RNA and protein.
Need assay kits, standards.
Qubit
Foto: Life Technologies
Instruments - Spectrophotometers
Multiscan SkyHigh Microplate Reader, ThermoFisher.
200-1000 nm. Plates, cuvette and µDrop Duo Plates (2-10 µl, 32 samples).
Absorbans and turbidity - end point, kinetics or spectral scanning.
Room temperatur to 45 °C, plate shaking.
DNA, RNA and protein analysis
NanoDrop One, Thermo. UV-Vis.
Concentration and purity of DNA/RNA (1-2 µl).

NanoDrop
(Photo: Thermo Fisher Scientific)
Helios-α, UNICAM. For kyvetter. UV- og synlig lys.
Instruments - Freeze drier
Telstar, LyoQuest with standard chamber.
Ice condenser capacity 5 kg/24 h.
Freeze drier
(Photo: Telstar)
Various instruments
Rotavapor and Speed Vacuum Concentrator
Buchi. Rotavapor R210 and Vacuum Controller V850.
Speed vacuum concentrator SC210A og Savant RVT 400 Refrigator Vapor Trap, Thermo Scientific.
PPrecision balance
Mettler Toledo. Excellence Plus XP.
Range: 1µg – 6 g
Embedding system paraffin wax
Tissue processing machine – Tissue -Tek VIP
Embedding machine – Tissue-Tek TEC

Tissue-Tek TEC
(Photo: Sakura)

Tissue-Tek Tek
(Photo: Sakura)
Greenhouse trials
We are a group of technicians with backgrounds as gardeners and plant scientists who work with plant experiments in a controlled climate. This involves watering, plant care and general monitoring of experiments and growth analyses. Typical recordings include growth analyses, chlorophyll, fluorescence, light measurements (irradiance and spectrum), conductivity and pH in soil and fertiliser water.
Teaching:
We participate in teaching several courses where we can contribute our horticultural and plant science expertise. These include plant physiology (BOT130 and BOT200), plant production in a controlled climate (PJH250), production of flowering and vegetable plants for planting in greenhouses (PJH251), urban agriculture in practice (LA201) and plant photobiology (BOT345).
Master's and PhD students also use us for training in both horticultural and plant science.
Booking
Please contact us for collaboration and price estimates.
Instruments
Spectrometers/light meters:
Red/dark red gauge
skye 660/730
Quantum meter   li-250
Spectrometer: Spectrapen
Specratpen mini
spectrometer: LI-180 Licor LI-180
sspectrometer: PG100N
Leading indicator gauges:
Scangrow EC meter
Ecotestr pH meter
Ecotestr pH2
Chlorophyll meter
hansatech cl-01
Fluorescence - fv/fm meterr
hansatech pea
leaf area meter
li-3100
Employees