Kinetics of littorine content in various developing stages of regenerates of Atropa belladonna

Aseptically propagated regenerates were cultivated in a hydroponic apparatus, a phytotron or in the field, and their growth and littorine contents were investigated. No littorine was detected in aseptic regenerates cultured on solidified Murashige and Skoog medium, nor was it found in leaves under the three conditions tested. In roots, it was common features to all three conditions tested that littorine increased dramatically after transplantation from culture tubes and was a major alkaloid up to week 4; subsequently the littorine contents varied depending on the cultivation conditions. Roots cultivated in the field showed a marked thickening and rapid disappearance of littorine; those cultivated in the hydroponic apparatus were thin and maintained a high level of littorine for a long time. In a plant cultivated for 16 weeks in a pot, littorine content in the roots decreased with increasing root diameter.