Growth and quaternary alkaloid production in differentiating and non-differentiating strains of Ruta graveolens

Cultures of Ruta graveolens have been grown and maintained on Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with α-naphthalene acetic acid (1 mg/l.) and kinetin (0.1 mg/l.) or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (1 mg/l.), and glucose (30 g/l.). The production of dihydrofuroquinoline alkaloids has been investigated in these cultures. The present study showed that: (a) cultures of Ruta produced both differentiating and non-differentiating strains; (b) quaternary alkaloids (platydesminium, ribalinium and rutalinium) were present in all the strains and maximum contents were detected at 3-4 weeks growth; (c) high platydesminium and rutalinium content was associated with differentiation and callus formation, respectively; (d) changed concentrations of quaternary alkaloids were recorded in all the five strains grown on media supplemented with tryptophan and precursors (anthranilic acid, 5-methylanthranilic acid and 2,4-dihydroxyquinoline).