Harvest and Preservation

1. Harvest the culture by gently agitating the contents of each flask.xa0 Transfer all but approximately 1 mL of the culture medium to 15 mL plastic centrifuge tubes. Detach thexa0remaining tissue culture cells (infected and uninfected) by scraping the surface of the flask with a cell scraper. Pass the resulting cell suspension through a syringe equipped with a 27 gauge 1/2 in needle and pool this suspension with the culture fluid.
2. Spin the cell suspensions at approximately 50 x g for 3 min, to remove the cellular debris.
3. Transfer the spore suspensions (supernatants) to new 15 mL plastic centrifuge tubes.xa0 Centrifuge at 1300 x g for 10 min.
4. Pool the spore pellets and adjust the concentration to 2.0 - 4.0 x 10⁷ cells/mL with a fresh solution of Hanks Balanced Salt Solution. *If the concentration is too low centrifuge at 1300 x g for 10 min and resuspend in the volume of Hanks Balanced Salt Solution required to yield the desired concentration.
5. Mix the spore preparation and 20% (v/v) DMSO in equal portions.xa0 The final concentration will be 1.0 - 2.0 x 10⁷ cells/mL and 10% DMSO.xa0 The time from the mixing of the cell preparation and cryoprotective solution to the start of the freezing process should be no less than 15 min. and no more than 30 min.
6. Dispense in 0.5 mL aliquots to 1.0-2.0 mL sterile plastic screw-capped cryules (special plastic vials for cryopreservation).
7. Place the vials in a controlled rate freezing unit.xa0 From room temperature cool at -1°C/min to -40°C.xa0 If the freezing unit can compensate for the heat of fusion, maintain rate at -1°C/min through the heat of fusion.xa0 At -40°C plunge into liquid nitrogen. Alternatively, place the vials in a Nalgene 1°C freezing apparatus.xa0 Place the apparatus at -80°C for 1.5 to 2 hours and then plunge ampules into liquid nitrogen.xa0 (The cooling rate in this apparatus is approximately -1°C/min.) xa0
8. Store in either the vapor or liquid phase of a nitrogen refrigerator.
9. To thaw a frozen ampule, place it in a 35°C water bath such that the lip of the ampule remains above the water line. Thawing time is approximately 2 to 3 minutes.xa0 Do not agitate the ampule.xa0 Do not leave ampule in water bath after thawed.
10. Immediately after thawing, aseptically transfer contents to a T-25 tissue culture flask containing a fresh monolayer of ATCC^® CCL-70™ cells and 10 mL ATCC^® 30-2003™ with 3% (v/v) HIFBS.
11. Outgas the flask for 10 seconds with a 95% air, 5% CO₂ gas mixture.
12. Incubate in a 35°C CO₂ incubator with the caps screwed on tightly.

Dubey JP, et al. Besnoitia oryctofelisi n. sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from domestic rabbits. Parasitology 126: 521-539, 2003.