Abstract Detail

Physiological Section

Johnson, Emanuel L. [1], Kim, Soo-Hyung [2].

Alkaloids present in leaf calluses of Erythroxylum spp..

The development of a tissue culture system for the genus Erythroxylum, to date, has been limited to only Erythroxylum coca var. coca Lam. However, there are four cultivated taxa of Erythroxylum that are indigenous to the Andean region of South America that contain the cocaine alkaloid in their leaf tissue. Here we present data on callus from young explant leaf tissue of the four cultivated Erythroxylum taxa. Calluses were grown under light-and-dark treatment for 42 days to determine: (i) the alkaloids present; (ii) inter-and-intra-specific differences within, among and between alkaloids and; (iii) if alkaloid production was light-mediated. Dark-and-light treatments generated three callus types: clear, green and brown. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of callus extracts detected only four of the eight primary alkaloids present in Erythroxylum leaf tissue (cocaine, methyl ecgonine, cis -and trans-cinnamoylcocaine). There were significant variations among, within and between alkaloid concentrations of the four taxa, as well as light and dark treatments. Cocaine, cis and -trans-cinnamoylcocaine were light mediated in all taxa except Erythroxylum cocavar. ipadu.

1 - USDA ARS, ACSL, 10300 Baltimore Ave, Bldg 001 Rm 329, Beltsville, Maryland, 20705-2350, USA
2 - Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 842012, Richmond, Virginia, 23284-2012, USA

Keywords:
Cultivated Erythroxylum spp.
calluses
alkaloids
cocaine
methyl ecgonine
cis and -trans-cinnamoylcocaine.

Presentation Type: Paper
Session: 11-5
Location: White Pine (Cliff Lodge)
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2004
Time: 11:15 AM
Abstract ID:306