LAWSONE ACCUMULATION IN NORMAL AND TRANSFORMED CULTURES OF HENNA, LAWSONIA-INERMIS

The improvement of axillary shoot formation of Lawsonia inermis L. cul tured in vitro depended on the iron concentration in the culture mediu m. Regenerated shoots were rooted on a hormone-free half-strength Mura shige and Skoog medium (1/2 MS) before transfer to greenhouse conditio ns. Determination of lawsone in the plant material was investigated us ing a new HPLC method. The results showed that lawsone accumulation in vivo is restricted to the aerial part of the plant. In addition, the possibility of inducing lawsone biosynthesis in root cultures was stud ied. Hairy root cultures were established by a co-culture method using leaf segments of L. inermis and Agrobacterium rhizogenes NCIB 8196. O f several basal media tested, the production of lawsone (0.13 % dry we ight) was only observed in hairy roots tissues incubated in the dark a nd cultured in 1/2 MS or MS media.