Mgp. Mahagamasekera et Pm. Doran, INTERGENERIC COCULTURE OF GENETICALLY TRANSFORMED ORGANS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SCOPOLAMINE, Phytochemistry, 47(1), 1998, pp. 17-25
This work demonstrates the effectiveness of interspecies and intergenu
s organ co-culture for the production of plant secondary metabolites.
Go-cultures of Atropa belladonna transformed roots and Duboisia hybrid
shooty teratomas produced significant levels of scopolamine, whereas
no scopolamine could be detected in separate root and shoot cultures.
Maximum scopolamine levels found in co-cultured shoots were 4.8 mg g(-
1) dry weight in a 2 x 2.5-1 dual bioreactor system, and 3.7 +/- 0.9 m
g g(-1) in dual 1-1 shake flasks. Periodic crushing of the roots in sh
ake flasks was effective in releasing hyoscyamine, but impaired growth
and overall alkaloid synthesis. Less severe root damaging in the bior
eactor was more successful in improving scopolamine accumulation. Upta
ke of hyoscyamine by shooty teratomas was inhibited at high hyoscyamin
e concentrations, was reduced in the presence of ATPase inhibitors, an
d could be significantly enhanced by pre-incubating the shoots on medi
um containing hyoscyamine. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.