Kinetics of littorine content in various developing stages of regenerates of Atropa belladonna

Aseptically propagated regenerates were cultivated in a hydroponic apparatu s, a phytotron or in the field, and their growth and littorine contents wer e investigated. No littorine was detected in aseptic regenerates cultured o n solidified Murashige and Skoog medium, nor was it found in leaves under t he three conditions tested. In roots, it was common features to all three c onditions tested that littorine increased dramatically after transplantatio n from culture tubes and was a major alkaloid up to week 4; subsequently th e littorine contents varied depending on the cultivation conditions. Roots cultivated in the field showed a marked thickening and rapid disappearance of littorine; those cultivated in the hydroponic apparatus were thin and ma intained a high level of littorine for a long time. In a plant cultivated f or 16 weeks in a pot, littorine content in the roots decreased with increas ing root diameter.