PRODUCTION OF TROPANE ALKALOIDS BY TRANSFORMED HAIRY ROOT CULTURES OF Datura metel

Abstract

There remains a need to increase alkaloid production rates to favour their commercial exploitation as the growth and production of secondary metabolites is strongly influenced by the environmental factors. Datura metel transformed hairy root obtained through infection with Agrobacteriu, rhizogenes LBA 9402, were employed for production of tropane alkaloids in vitro. The production of hyoscyamine and scopolamine by the hairy root cultures were investigated on three types of media at different ionic strength and sucrose concentrations. Roots cultured in B5 medium were observed to exhibit better growth and tropane alkaloid production compared to MS and White’s medium. The full strength of B5 medium supplemented 4% (w/v) of sucrose was yields the highest roots mass (550 mg dry wt.per flask), as well as the hyoscyamine and scopolamine which was 1.52 and 0.32mg/g dry wt.of tissue, respectively. This indicated that, mineral nutrient and sucrose play an important role in tropane alkaloids biosynthesis by hairy root cultures.