Glutathione Enhanced Anthraquinone Production in Adventitious Root Cultures of Rubia tinctorum L

The adventitious root cultures were induced from leaf segments of Rubia tinctorum L. (madder) in MS medium supplemented with 15μM indoleacetic acid and 0.5μM kinetin. The effects of CuCl2 and glutathione on phytochelatins (class III methallothioneins) induction and the production of anthraquinone pigments were studied. Addition of Cu ions to MS medium induced phytochelatins and affected the production of anthraquinone pigments. The addition of glutathione which did not induce phytochelatins by itself, augmented the content of phytochelatins induced by Cu ions at an early stage of culture. The addition of glutathione alone resulted in a marked increase in production of anthraquinone pigments, particularly lucidin-3-O-primeveroside.