Investigation of Pseudomonas species in animal cell culture

Different species of Pseudomonas are used as plant protecting agents especially to bate potatoes. To achieve an admission from the authorities the Pseudomonas strains must be tested for their toxicological properties. To circumvent animal studies, test systems are developed to analyse the harmful potential on in vitro cultures of lung epithelial cells. Therefore Calu-3 cells are grown on transwell plates until tight junctions are formed. To classify the bacterial strains, the integrity of the tight junction is evaluated after incubation of Pseudomonas with cell cultures.