Biosynthetic and cytological studies in tissue cultures and regenerated plants of haploid Atropa belladonna

Abstract

Tissue cultures were established from leaves of 1 anther-derived haploid plant of A. belladonna L. Regenerants obtained from callus cultures were transferred to soil and reared to maturity. Callus cells and regenerants exhibited variable degrees of ploidy. The frequency of different ploidy levels in both the systems did not vary significantly during 5th-8th serial passages. Callus tissue and regenerated plants (at flowering stage) were analyzed to determine the concentration of tropine, atropine, scopolamine and total alkaloids. While the alkaloid content in callus cultures was very low (0.8 .times. 10-3%), the regenerated plants contained different levels of individual and total alkaloids. The ploidy of the plant had direct bearing on the individual and total alkaloid contents.