Why Test for Species?

Authentication testing aims to confirm or verify the identity of a cell line, demonstrating that it is derived from the correct species and donor⁽¹⁾.

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling can identify cells to individual level and has been used for human and mouse cell lines^(2-3). Other genotype-based methods, such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, can determine a cell line’s strain of origin⁽⁴⁾. STR or SNP analysis have not been developed for all laboratory species and data can be difficult to interpret due to inbreeding⁽⁵⁾.

Species detection is an easier approach that can be applied to cultured cells from many different species, including mammals, fish, and insects. The technique is used to detect cases of interspecies cross-contamination. Approximately 10% of known misidentified cell lines are cross-contaminated or mixed up with cells from a different species⁽⁶⁾. A sequence-based method known as “DNA barcoding” is increasingly used for species detection and is a new consensus approach for cell lines^(7-8).

DNA Barcoding at CellBank Australia

CellBank Australia accepts cell pellets and DNA samples for testing.

A consensus region is amplified for sequence analysis from the mitochondrial gene, Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit 1 (CO1)⁽⁸⁾. Data are compared to several sequence databases, including GenBank and the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD), which contains more than 1.7 million public records and covers 176,000 animal species⁽⁹⁾.

Price:    $175 per sample, excluding GST.

A discount of 5% to 10% is available for bulk testing, please contact us for a quote.

Terms and Conditions:

Please note that all CellBank Australia services are suitable for research purposes only and are not appropriate for human clinical or diagnostic samples. CellBank Australia can only test cell lines classified as Physical Containment Level 1 (PC1) and Level 2 (PC2). Full terms and conditions can be found in the‘Attachments’ tab.

Orders:

At present, we do not accept orders online for this service. Thus you will not be able to add the service to your cart. However, to place an order offline:

• Contact us using the ‘Ask a Question‘ tab and tell us about any special needs that you may have.

• Download a copy of the ‘Request for Identification Testing’ form, which is available from the ‘Attachments’ tab.

• Complete and return the form via email (cellbank@cmri.org.au).

• Upon confirmation, prepare your samples and ship them to CellBank Australia in accordance with the instructions on the Request form.

References

1. International Cell Line Authentication Committee (2017) Definitions.

2. Yoshino K, Saijo K, Noro C, Nakamura Y (2010) Development of a Simple Method to Determine the Mouse Strain from Which Cultured Cell Lines Originated. IBC2(14):1-9.

3. Almeida JL, Hill CR, Cole KD (2014) Mouse cell line authentication. Cytotechnology 66(1):133-47. PMID: 23430347.

4. Didion JP, Buus RJ, Naghashfar Z, Threadgill DW, Morse HC 3rd, de Villena FP (2014) SNP array profiling of mouse cell lines identifies their strains of origin and reveals cross-contamination and widespread aneuploidy. BMC Genomics 15(1):847. PMID: 25277546.

5. Almeida JL, Cole KD, Plant AL (2016) Standards for Cell Line Authentication and Beyond. PLoS Biol 14(6):e1002476. PMID: 27300367.

8. ANSI/ATCC ASN-0003-2015 (2015) Species-Level Identification of Animal Cells through Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit 1 (CO1) DNA Barcodes.

9. Barcode of Life Data Systems (2017) Homepage.