Isolation and characterization of blackish-brown BY2-melanin accumulated in cultured tobacco BY-2 cells.

Abul Taher Mohammed Rafiqul Islam, Keita Shinzato, Hiroki Miyaoka, Kenji Komaguchi, Kanae Koike, Kenji Arakawa, Kenji Kitamura, Nobukazu Tanaka

Bioscience, biotechnology, and biochemistry 2023 Mar 21

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The tobacco BY-2 cell line is one of the most utilized plant cell lines. After long-term culture, the cells turn brown to black, but the causal pigment is unknown. We successfully isolated a blackish-brown pigment from BY-2 cells cultured for 3 weeks. Morphological and spectroscopic analyses indicated that the pigment had similar features to a melanin-like substance reported previously. Furthermore, physicochemical analyses revealed that this pigment possessed most of the properties of melanin-like pigments. In addition, the high nitrogen content suggested that it differed from common plant melanins classified as allomelanins, suggesting a novel eumelanin-like pigment: "BY2-melanin". This is the first example showing that eumelanin-like pigments are produced in the cultures of plant cells for which the accumulation of melanin has not been reported. This tobacco BY-2 cell culture technique may represent a customizable and sustainable alternative to conventional melanin production platforms, with significant potential for industrial and pharmacological applications. © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry.

Citation

Abul Taher Mohammed Rafiqul Islam, Keita Shinzato, Hiroki Miyaoka, Kenji Komaguchi, Kanae Koike, Kenji Arakawa, Kenji Kitamura, Nobukazu Tanaka. Isolation and characterization of blackish-brown BY2-melanin accumulated in cultured tobacco BY-2 cells. Bioscience, biotechnology, and biochemistry. 2023 Mar 21;87(4):395-410