In vitro culture of crown gall and hairy root tumors ofAtropa Belladonna: Differentiation and alkaloid production

Abstract

Crown galls and hairy roots were induced inin vitro cultivated seedlings ofAtropa belladonna by differentAgrobacterium tumefaciens andA. rhizogenes strains. During furtherin vitro cultivation, tumors and hairy roots showed high differentiation ability which persisted for at least one year ofin vitro culture. Only root cultures, induced by Ri plasmid A4, synthesized detectable amounts of alkaloids.