Growth and alkaloid production in bioreactors by a selected Catharanthus roseus cell line

A cell line of Catharanthus roseus has been selected from a culture derived from a long-established cell line C87. The original cell line C87 was capable of linked growth and serpentine accumulation using one medium. The selected line C. roseus ID1 retained many of the culture characteristics of the parent line, such as rapid growth and increased alkaloid formation at high sucrose concentration, but serpentine accumulation was not linked to growth. A more significant difference was shown in that the selected line retained the ability to accumulate serpentine when grown in bioreactors, whereas the original cell line lost this ability upon scale-up. However, the accumulation of serpentine by the C. roseus ID1 cell line in bioreactors was reduced with increasing subculture number. This trend was reversed by maintaining the stock lines in the dark and only switching to light conditions during scale-up.