Lithospermum erythrorhizon
, which are capable of producing red pigments, have been established. The red pigments were formed on the stems of L. erythrorhizon shoots cultured both on solid and in liquid media without phytohormones at 25 °C in the dark. Thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography and 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed that the red pigments which accumulated on the cultured shoots were shikonin derivatives. The effects of various basal media and phytohormones (indole-3-acetic acid, indole-3-butyric acid and kinetin) on the growth and the formation of shikonin derivatives were investigated. When the shoots were cultured on Murashige and Skoog solid medium, the addition of kinetin remarkably enhanced shikonin derivative accumulation in the shoots. However, these effects of kinetin were not observed in the liquid culture when cultured in Gamborg B5 medium. The maximum content of shikonin derivatives (2.3% as dry weight, ca. 1.5 mg/100 ml flask) was observed in the shoots cultured in phytohormone-free B5 liquid medium for 5 weeks.
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Received: 1 February 2000 / Revision received: 23 March 2000 / Accepted: 28 March 2000
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Touno, K., Harada, K., Yoshimatsu, K. et al. Shikonin derivative formation on the stem of cultured shoots in Lithospermum erythrorhizon. Plant Cell Reports 19, 1121–1126 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990000237
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990000237
- Abbrevations B5: Gamborg B5 (Gamborg et al. 1968)
- HF: Phytohormone-free
- HPLC: High-performance liquid chromatography
- IAA: Indole-3-acetic acid
- IBA: Indole-3-butyric acid
- LS: Linsmaier and Skoog (1965)
- MS: Murashige and Skoog (1962)
- 1/2 MS: Half strength Murashige and Skoog (1962)
- NMR: Nuclear magnetic resonance
- RC: Root culture (Thomas and Davey 1982)
- SD: Standard deviation
- TLC: Thin-layer chromatography
- WP: Woody plant (Lloyd and McCown 1980)