Elicitation of thiophene production by cultured hairy roots of Tagetes patula

Hairy roots of Tagetes patula were initiated by infecting the seedlings wit h Agrobacterium rhizogenes. The hairy roots were grown in liquid medium MS ( Murashige and Skoog 1962) supplemented with sucrose. The roots were treat ed with three different elicitors obtained from mycelial culture of Aspergi llus niger, Rhizopus oligosporus and Pencillium notatum. Accumulation of bi omass and the production of thiophenes were studied over a period of six we eks in culture. The HPLC separation profile of the thiophenes indicated the presence of several structurally different thiophenes, alpha-terthienyl be ing predominent. Maximum production of thiophene was recorded at the end of the fourth week in culture with a content of 0.138% (w/w on dry weight bas is). Treatment of hairy roots with mycelial extract of Aspergillus niger (1 .5% v/v) elicited an increase in thiophene content by 1.6 folds over the co ntrol.