Abstract

Pelargonium sidoides is a traditional medicinal plant from South Africa. An aqueous-ethanolic formulation of the roots and tubers is approved for the treatment of acute bronchitis. Therefore propagation of the plant material by cell cultures and the extraction of potential pharmaceutical active compounds are of great interest. Calli were established on different media from roots and shoots of seedlings and softness and colour of the tissue were compared. Optimum growth of callus cultures was achieved in MS-medium containing 1 mg/L 2,4-D and 0.2 mg/L kinetin or 2.2 mg/L TDZ supplemented with 50 mg/L ascorbic acid and 50 mg/L citric acid. Accumulation of phenolic deposits, responsible for inhibition of growth was avoided by addition of ascorbic and citric acid and a short period of sub-culture. Furthermore, the influence of different phytohormones [2,4-D, kinetin, 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), Thidiazuron (TDZ)] on the polysaccharide composition of the liquid media of suspension cultures was investigated. For the first time, arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) as bioactive components were isolated from cell cultures of P. sidoides.

Key words: Pelargonium sidoides, cell culture, arabinogalactan-protein, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, kinetin, β-glucosyl Yariv reagent.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: 2,4-D, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; A, ascorbic acid; AG, arabinogalactan; AGP,arabinogalactan-protein; BAP, 6-benzylaminopurine; C, citric acid; IBA, indole-3-butyric acid; K, kinetin; MS, Murashige and Skoog medium (1962); NAA, α naphthaleneacetic acid; PA6, polyamide 6; TDZ, Thidiazuron; Yariv, b-glucosyl Yariv reagent.