Geraniol is a potent inducer of apoptosis-like cell death in the cultured shoot primordia of Matricaria chamomilla.

We screened various isoprenoids to search for inducers of apoptosis-like cell death ("apoptosis") in the shoot primordia of Matricaria chamomilla and found that geraniol has the most potent apoptosis-inducing activity among terpenoids, as judged from DNA fragmentation in the cells. The apoptosis-inducing activity of geraniol is concentration and time dependent. Morphologically, the nuclei of the cells treated with 5 mM geraniol were condensed and fragmented. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.