Influence of Medium Composition on the Formation of Secondary Compounds in Cell Suspension Cultures of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don

Cell suspension cultures o f Catharanthus roseus have been subjected to various media condi­ tions in order to stimulate the formation o f indole alkaloids. High ajmalicine contents (up to 0.5 m g/g cell fresh weight) were achieved by transferring 2-week-old cell suspensions to a 10-fold volume of a 8% sucrose solution. The alkaloid accumulation started two days after the transfer and reached a plateau after ten days. Furthermore an enhanced level o f phenolic compounds was found, whereas growth o f the culture was low. The accumulation o f both, alkaloids and poly­ phenols was stimulated by high concentrations o f sucrose and low concentrations o f nitrogen con­ taining salts and phosphate. When these minerals were added to the sucrose solution in con­ centrations commonly used for cell culture media, the accumulation o f alkaloids and phenolic compounds was largely suppressed.