Specialised in the genomics of plants, plant pathogens and plant-related (micro) organisms, GreenFlow™ is the flow cytometry and -sorter facility of Plant Research International - a strategic merge between the former AB, CPRO and IPO. Plant Research International is itself a part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR), globally renowned for offering scientific knowledge of the highest calibre. By effectively integrating this rich seam of know-how, GreenFlow benefits from decades of experience in plant breeding research, plant pathology, cell biology, developmental biology, molecular biology, genetics and bioinformatics. The GreenFlow facility is an expertise centre for flow cytometry and sorting in the areas of agro-food and genomics research. This facility closely co-operates with Beckman Coulter and with the Greenomics™ facilities at Plant Research International. Recently we demonstrated the application of flow cytometry for the detection and viability determination of seed borne plant pathogenic bacteria (Chitarra, 2000), as well as for cell cycle analysis during seed treatment. The multi-parameter nature of flow cytometry allows for simultaneous analyses of several characteristics by using fluorescent probes. Characterized sub-populations can be sorted, if needed sterile, for cloning, culturing or further studies. The GreenFlow facility is equipped with two Beckman Coulter flow cytometers, a ALTRA HyPerSort and an Epics XL-MCL. The ALTRA HyPerSort is installed with 4 lasers, a large particle sorter and a high speed sorter. Analysis of particles can be done at a speed up to 80.000 particles/second with a detection limit of much less than thousand FITC molecules per particle. The size range of particles that can be analysed varies between sub µM (viruses) and large particles up to 200 µm.

Flow Cytometry and
High-throughput sorting facility
Plant Research International B.V.
P.O. Box 16
NL-6700 AA Wageningen
The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 317 477001
Fax: +31 317 418094
www.plant.wageningen-ur.nl