Nicotine Production and Growth of Excised Tobacco Root Cultures.

Abstract

Excised roots of a clone of Nicotiana tabacum var. Turkish were grown in sterile culture, and a detailed study was made of the interrelations of their growth and nicotine production. During the exponential phase of growth the roots produced nicotine at a constant rate of 0.191 [mu]g per mm length or 29.05 [mu]g per mg dry weight. When the growing tips and mature regions of the root were cultured separately, nicotine increases resulted only in the case of the tips. By the use of indoleacetic acid in proper concentration, nicotine synthesis was observed only in those roots where elongation occurred.