E. Lewinsohn et al., MONOTERPENE CYCLASES IN GRAND FIR CALLUS-CULTURES - MODULATION BY ELICITORS AND GROWTH-REGULATORS, Phytochemistry, 36(3), 1994, pp. 651-656
Grand fir callus tissue, obtained from debarked sapling stems and cult
ured on modified solid Murashige and Skoog medium, when transferred to
medium lacking growth regulators or glutamine, or containing autoclav
ed extracts of Trichosporium symbioticum or Penicillium brevicompactum
, or chitosan, yeast extract or pectinase, displayed up to an eight-fo
ld increase in the level of monoterpene cyclase activity compared to c
ontrols. The activity induced in the calli was principally limonene cy
clase, not pinene cyclase which is the major wound-inducible monoterpe
ne synthase in grand fir sapling stems. Mechanical damage to callus ti
ssue and treatment with filter-sterilized extracts of wounded stem had
no marked effect on cyclase activity levels. The regulation of induce
d monoterpene biosynthesis in grand fir calli is different than that o
bserved in wounded saplings; the complement of cyclases induced in cul
tured cells resembles more closely the constitutive pattern of activit
ies present in intact stems.