DEVELOPMENT OF SHOOTY TERATOMAS FROM SEVERAL SOLANACEOUS PLANTS - GROWTH-KINETICS, STOICHIOMETRY AND ALKALOID PRODUCTION

Shooty teratomas of Atropa belladonna and Solanum aviculare and shooty teratomas and crown galls of a Duboisia leichhardtii X D. myoporoides hybrid were established by infecting plants with nopaline and genetic ally modified strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Transformation was confirmed by nopaline assay and Southern blotting. Patterns of growth , substrate uptake and alkaloid production were studied in shake flask s and bioreactors. Maximum specific growth rates of 0.25 d(-1) and 0.2 8 d(-1) were obtained for A. belladonna shooty teratomas and Duboisia crown galls, respectively; specific growth rate declined throughout mo st of the batch culture period. The elemental composition of A. bellad onna shooty teratomas grown in MS medium was similar to that of other plant cells. Growth of A. belladonna shoots in MS medium could be desc ribed using a stoichiometric equation with constant yield coefficients for biomass production from sugar, nitrate and ammonia. Alkaloid prod uction in the shoot and gall cultures was limited, development of root s significantly improved hyoscyamine synthesis by A. belladonna shooty teratomas.