Studies on the production of Digitalis cardenolides by plant tissue culture I. Determination of digitoxin and digoxin contents in first and second passage calli and organ redifferentiating calli of several Digitalis species by radioimmunoassay

Effect of auxin and phenobarbital on the ultrastructure and digitoxin content in Digitalis purpurea tissue culture

Callus derived from Digitalis purpurea hypocotils were grown during a 6-week period on solid Murashige–Skoog medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine, 0.01 mg/L gibberellic acid and 0.1 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid or α-naphthaleneacetic acid, with or without phenobarbital (40 mg/L). The presence of phenobarbital in the culture medium caused a reduction of the vacuole/cytoplasm ratio. At the same time, the chloroplastic volume fraction decreased in callus tissue cells grown in media supplemented with phenobarbital, while the mitochondrial volume ratio increased. Digitoxin content was enhanced in callus tissues, especially in those grown on indole-3-acetic acid medium supplemented with phenobarbital. The relationship between ultrastructure of D. purpurea callus and digitoxin content is discussed. Keywords: Digitalis purpurea tissue cultures, digitoxin, phenobarbital, mitochondria, chloroplast.

Plant cell and tissue culture: Alternatives for metabolite production

Plant cell culture systems represent a potential renewable source of valuable medicinals, flavours, essences and colourants that cannot be produced by microbial cells or chemical syntheses. However, only a few cultures produce these compounds in commercially useful amounts. The low productivities are associated with our poor understanding of the biochemistry of these systems. Recent advances in molecular biology, enzymology, physiology and fermentation technology of plant cell cultures suggest that these systems will become a viable source of important natural products. This review examines the sate of the art of production of medicinal plant secondary metabolites by plant cell cultures.

In vitro morphogenesis from excised leaf explants of Digitalis obscura L

The morphogenic capacity of Digitalis obscura leaf explants cultured in vitro has been studied, noting factors promoting the differentiation of roots, buds and shoots as well as those promoting callus proliferation. Complete plant regeneration was obtained only by first culturing the leaf explants in a medium with NAA and BA to induce formation of buds, and subsequently transferring them to a medium without growth regulators to achieve the further development of shoots.