Coscinium fenestratum: Callus and Suspension Cell Culture of the Endangered Medicinal Plant Using Vermicompost Extract and Coelomic Fluid as Plant Tissue Culture Media

In vitro tissue culture of hard woody, endangered, medicinal plant Coscinium fenestratum is most challenging to plant tissue culturists. In the present study, petiole and leaf explants of Coscinium fenestratum were induced to form callus when cultured on vermicompost extract media along with coelomic fluid. Suspension medium was developed using vermicompost extract and coelomic fluid in 3:1 ratio. Phytochemical analysis of the alkaloid berberine was confirmed from callus, suspension cell culture and suspension medium by Thin Layer Chromatography and High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Vermicompost and its extracts with coelomic fluid have shown maximum (100 per cent) response of callus induction. Callus mass enlarged with increasing concentration of coelomic fluid and callus growth was assessed from the biomass. Incubation of culture tubes in dark supported callus development significantly. The Rf value of 0.36 confirmed the presence of berberine by Thin Layer Chromatography. Qualitative analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloid berberine with the retention time of 2.8 minutes similar to that of standard reference sample from Sigma chemicals, USA. The suspension medium turned deep yellow because of the release of the alkaloid. Vermicompost and its extracts along with coelomic fluid have shown the economical approach for micropropagation of economically and medicinally important plants.

Influences of Plant Growth Regulators， Basal Media and Carbohydrate Levels on Cell Suspension Culture of Panax ginseng

A cell suspension culture of Panax ginseng which may be continuously subcultured has been established. Embryogenic callus derived from clutured young leaves was used to initiate the culture.Plant growth regulators, basal medium formula and carbohydrate levels were examined to determine their various effects on suspension culture cell growth and development. The best selection of plant growth regulator, hasal medium and carbohydrate level is 2 mg / L 2,4-D: 0.5 mg / L KT,MS and 3% sucrose respectively.

Ce^(4+)-Induced Apoptosis of Taxus cuspidata Cells in Suspension Culture

The standard detection hallmarks of apoptosis of Taxus cuspidata cells in suspension culture with Ce 4+ were studied. The condensation and margination of chromatin were observed under the electron microscopy. DNA fragmentation ranged 'DNA ladder' on agarose gel electrophoresis. TdT mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) analysis of the cells reveals that the nuclear DNA strand breaks can be identified by labeling free 3′ OH termini. These results suggest that Ce 4+ can induce apoptosis of Taxus cuspidata cells and also indicate that there is a certain relationship between apoptosis and secondary metabolite product Taxol.

Study on Cell Suspension Culture of Floribunda Rose

Friable callus was induced when immature seeds of floribunda rose were inoculated on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D 3.0 mg.L^-1. When transfered onto subculture media, friable callus developed into embryogenic callus, which was used to establish cell suspension lines. Cell suspensions had to be subcultured at a interval of 4-5 days at the first several culture cycles. The best subculturing cycle for the stable cell suspensions was 8-10 days. The best inoculum quantity was 1 mL PCV（Packed Cell Volume） per 40 mL culture fluid.

Biotransformation of 14-Deacetoxy-13-oxo sinenxan A by Ginkgo Cell Cultures

Deacetoxy-13-oxo sinenxan A (1) was converted to 9a-hydroxy-13-oxo-2a, 5a, 10b-triacetoxy-4(20),11-taxadiene (2) and 10b-hydroxy-13-oxo-2a,5a,9a-triacetoxy- 4(20), 11- taxadiene (3) by Ginkgo cell suspension cultures in 45% and 15% yields, respectively.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity in Cultured Cells from Different Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) Varieties

The activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in cultured cells of various tobacco was determined. It was found that significant differences existed in cells of different varieties cultured under normal conditions and as well after treated with exogenous ethanol. The ADH activity had positive relation with the ability of the cells to catabolize exogenous ethanol, indicating that the main function of the ADH in tobacco cells was in the direction of converting ethanol to acetaldehyde.

Effect of La,Ce on Taxus Cuspidata Cell Growth,Biosynthesis and Release of Taxol

The effect of La, Ce was firstly tested on growth of the Taxus(T.) cuspidata cell suspensions, biosynthesis and release of taxol. The results indicate that the growth pattern of T.cuspidata cells is altered significantly by adding high concentration of rare earth in the medium. The lag and exponential phases of cell growth are shortened, the stationary phase disappears and the biomass fluctuates periodically during the decline phase. The rare earth compounds added in the exponential phase obviously increase the taxol biosyntheis and release yields of T.cuspidata cells, and the supplement of carbon source in the medium containing rare earth is also favorable to taxol biosynthesis.

An Efficient Rice Mutagenesis System Based on Suspension-Cultured Cells

Plant mutants are important bio-resources for crop breeding and gene functional studies. Conventional methods for generating mutant libraries by mutagenesis of seeds with physical or chemical agents are of low efficiency. Here, we developed a highly-efficient ethyl methanesulfonate （EMS） mutagenesis system based on suspension-cultured cells, with rice （Oryza sativa L.） as an example. We show that treatment of suspension-cultured tiny cell clusters with 0.4% EMS for 18-22 h followed by differentiation and regeneration produced as high as 29.4% independent mutant lines with visible phenotypic variations, including a number of important agronomic traits such as grain size, panicle size, grain or panicle shape, tiller number and angle, heading date, male sterility, and disease sensitivity. No mosaic mutant was observed in the mutant lines tested. In this mutant library, we obtained a mutant with an abnormally elongated uppermost internode. Sequencing and functional analysis revealed that this is a new allelic mutant of eui （elongated uppermost internode） caused by two point mutations in the first exon of the EUI gene, representing a successful example of this mutagenesis system.

Actomyosin is Involved in the Organization of the Microtubule Preprophase Band in Arabidopsis Suspension Cultured Cells

The microtubule preprophase bands （PPBs） participate in the sequence of events to position cell plates in most plants. However, the mechanism of PPB formation remains to be clarified. In the present study, the organization of PPBs in Arabidopsis suspension cultured cells was investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy combined with pharmacological treatments of reagents specific for the cytoskeleton elements. Double staining of F-actin and microtubules （MTs） showed that actin filaments were arranged randomly and no colocalization with cortical MTs was observed in the interphase cells. However, cortical actin filaments showed colocalization with MTs during the formation of PPBs. A broad actin band formed with the broad MT band in the initiation of PPB and narrowed down together with the MT band to form the PPB. Nevertheless, broad MT bands were formed but failed to narrow down in cells treated with the F-actin disruptor latrunculin A. In contrast, in the presence of the F-actin stabilizer phalloidin, PPB formation did not exhibit any abnormality. Therefore, the integrity, but not the dynamics, of the actin cytoskeleton is necessary for the formation of normal PPBs. Treatment with 2, 3-butanedine monoxime, a myosin inhibitor, also resulted in the formation of broad MT bands, indicating that actomyosin may be involved in the rearrangement of MTs to form the PPBs. Double staining of MTs and myosin revealed that myosin concentrated on the PPB region during PPB formation. It is suggested that the actin cytoskeleton at the PPB site may serve as a rack to transport cortical MTs by using myosin when the broad MT band narrows down to form the PPB.

Cell Suspension Culture of Neem Tree

The establishment of suspension culture system for neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) cells and the suspension culture condition was studied. It shows that the neem cell suspension culture system was best in B5 liquid medium, 2.0~4.0mg/L NAA with direct spill method. Based on the integrated analysis of cell biomass, Azadirachtin content and productivity, the optimum culture conditions were B5 liquid medium, 2.0-4.0 mg/L NAA, 3% sucrose at 25 ℃. The optimum rotating speed of the shaker and broth content d...

Morphological Transformation of Plant Cells in vitro and Its Effect on Plant Growth

Enhancement of cell growth in suspension cultures is urgently needed in plant cell culture engineering. This study investigates the relationship between morphological transformation and cell growth in callus and suspension cultures of saffron cells belonging to the cell line C96 induced from Crocus safivus L In the suspension culture, an unbalanced osmotic pressure between the intracell and extracell regions induced a large morphological transformation which affected normal division of the saffron cells. An increase in osmotic pressure caused by the addition of sucrose inhibits the vacuolation and shrinkage of cytoplasm in the cells. As the sucrose concentration increases, the total amount of accumulated biomass also increases. Besides the sucrose concentration, increased ionic strength and inoculation ratio also help restrain to a large extent the vacuolation and shrinkage of the cytoplasm in the suspended cells, which results in increased biomass. The conditions for optimal biomass are： Murashige and Skoog＇s （MS） medium with 40 g/L sucrose and 60% （v/v） inoculation ratio.