Carbon-nitrogen ratio and in vitro assimilate partitioning patterns in Cyrtanthus guthrieae L

In response to variations in nutritional composition of the growth medium, plants often adjust their metabolism and progressively alter their growth patterns. Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) constitute the major plant nutritional components influencing plant growth and development patterns. This study examined the growth dynamics and patterns of assimilate partitioning to primary and secondary metabolites in response to varying levels and combinations of C and N in the culture media of Cyrtanthus guthrieae. In vitro callus-derived C. guthrieae plantlets were cultured on solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) media with different concentrations and combinations of C and N. Relative growth rate (RGR) increased proportionally with an increase in C concentrations up to 88 mM sucrose (0.58 d(-1)) beyond which it was hardly influenced by further increases in C. Growth was also significantly favoured in media with high concentrations of N at all C concentrations tested. In C-limited media regimes with growth saturating N conditions, alkaloid accumulation became favoured while polyphenol content increased with an increase in C levels in the medium, a characteristic pattern that appeared to be less influenced by the amount of N. Of the primary metabolites, only proteins showed small significant variations across different media treatments, with starch and soluble sugars increasing proportionately with C levels. In the medium with a high sucrose concentration (175 mM), soluble sugars, amino acids and polyphenols increased markedly, possibly as an adaptive response to the reduced osmotic potential in the media and/or a storage mechanism for excess C and N reserves in the media. From a medicinal perspective, with regard to polyphenolic compounds in C. guthrieae, growth medium conditions that allow for high levels of C pools in the tissue would thus be favourable for the enhanced synthesis of this group of compounds. The medium conditions with 175 mM sucrose and 10.3 mM NH4NO3 gave the highest total polyphenols, flavonoids and proanthocyanidins with a moderate growth rate.