Divergence of the indole alkaloid pattern in two somatic hybrid plant cellsubcultures of Rauvolfia serpentina x Rhazya stricta

The alkaloid pattern in Rauvolfia serpentine x Rhazyo stride somatic hybrid cell subcultures RxR17K was studied and 11 compounds were identified on th e basis of their spectral data. Among them, 1,2-dehydroaspidospermidine, rh azinilam, stemmadenine and tabersonine were reported as typical of Rhazya s pecies while vomilenine and sarpagine are characteristic of Rauvolfia alkal oid metabolism. The alkaloid pattern in RxR17K subcultures was compared wit h that in the other hybrid cell subcultures (RxR17M) which were developed f rom the same origin hybrid cultures but have been maintained separately for about ten years. The data presented here exhibit pronounced divergence of the alkaloid patterns in RxR17K and RxR17M cell subcultures.