BIOSYNTHESIS OF CARTHAMIN IN FLORETS AND CULTURED-CELLS OF CARTHAMUS-TINCTORIUS

Phenylalanine labelled by C-14 was administered to the cultured cells and the intact flowers of Carthamus tinctorius, and the biosynthetic a ctivity of cartbamin in these two materials was compared. The cultured cells took up positively the fed substrate, but they could not incorp orate the label into carthamin, while incorporation of the radioactivi ty from phenylalanine into the red pigment occurred in the intact flow ers. The activities of polyphenol-oxidizing enzymes were screened in t he cell cultures and the intact tissues from the herbal plant, Polyphe nol-oxidizing enzymes were operative normally in the mother explant, w hereas their activity patterns changed altogether in the cultured cell s, where kurenamin, a new reddish pigment, is produced actively. The d ata are discussed in terms of the phenotypic changes in the polyphenol metabolism of the cultured cells propagated under restricted culture conditions.