Induction of the accumulation of tryptamine and phenols by endogenous elicitors in cell suspension cultures of periwinkle

The aim of the work was to investigate whether periwinkle cells grown in vitro accumulate endogenous elicitors with the property of enhancing secondary metabolite accumulation. We found that treating suspension-cultured cells (line C20) with either Aspergillus niger pectinase, Rhizopus sp. cellulase, or Trichoderma viride macerozyme increased the intracellular accumulation of tryptamine (and to a lesser extent that of serpentine) as well as the release of phenolic compounds in the medium. Pectinase and cellulase preparations already contained preformed elicitors, but macerozyme preparation released endogenous elicitors mainly from the pectin component of the cell wall. Enhancement of tryptamine accumulation in the C20 cells was associated with the increase in the levels of tryptophan decarboxylase transcripts. Ajmalicine contents did not increase, even ifa medium favouring the indole alkaloid accumulation was used. On the other hand, the ability of macerozyme treatment to release endogenous elicitors for tryptamine accumulation was found to be cell line-dependent.