NOVEL BIOTECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO OBTAIN SCOPOLAMINE AND HYOSCYAMINE - THE INFLUENCE OF BIOTIC ELICITORS AND STRESS AGENTS ON CULTURES OF TRANSFORMED ROOTS OF BRUGMANSIA CANDIDA

Scopolamine and hyoscyamine are tropane alkaloids employed in medicine as antispasmodics, preoperative medication and for the treatment of m otion sickness. Since their chemical synthesis is difficult and expens ive, these compounds are still extracted from plants that belong to se veral species of the Solanaceae. In this research, a biotechnological system for the production of both alkaloids was employed, Hairy roots of Brugmansia candida (syn. Datura candida), obtained through transfor mation with the soil pathogen Agrobacterium rhizogenes, were cultured in vitro. In an attempt to increase the productivity of the cultures, they were exposed to biotic elicitors (hemicellulase and homogenized B . candida roots) and stress agents (CuSO4). It was observed that hemic ellulase had a positive effect on scopolamine (2-fold increase) and, e specially, hyoscyamine accumulation (4-fold increase) in the roots. Th e homogenized roots also had a positive effect on alkaloid accumulatio n in the roots throughout the experiment (approximately 2.5-fold). The main effects of CuSO4 were seen in the release of alkaloids to the me dium, particularly at 24 and 48 (6 to 10-fold increase). (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.