Effects of Chemical and Physical Conditions on Growth of Camptotheca acuminata Cell Cultures

Callus was induced from Camptotheca acuminata, which produces an antitumor alkaloid, carnptothecin. Using the Murashige and Skoogs' medium as the basal, cultural conditions were examined for C. acuminata suspension cultures. As a result, a medium, containing 0.1 mg/liter 2,4-D, 3 mg/liter kinetin and 0.05 mg/liter GA 3 , was established as a medium that gave the best cell growth in suspension cultures. In addition, conditioning of medium and addition of 0.115 mm l-Trp and l-Phe to medium promoted remarkably growth of cell suspensions.