Establishment of hairy root cultures of Ammi majus.

Axenically grown Ammi majus plantlets were inoculated with seven different Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains. Hairy root lines were established only after inoculation with the two agropine strains: A4 and LBA9402. The growth rate of hairy root cultures was about thirty times faster than that of callus and cell suspension cultures. Polymerase chain reaction with primers for the genes rolB and rolC confirmed the integration of the T-DNA fragment of Ri plasmid of A. rhizogenes to the genome of hairy roots obtained after transformation by both Agrobacterium strains. The furanocoumarins (psoralen, xanthotoxine, bergapten and imperatorin) usually found in seeds of A. majus were not detected in callus, cell suspension and hairy root cultures using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, umbelliferone, a precursor of furanocoumarins, was detected in callus, cell suspension and hairy root cultures. The umbelliferone content in extracts of hairy root cultures, obtained after transformation by A4, was similar to that determined in A. majus seeds (19 µg/g DW) and higher than those obtained for cell suspension and callus cultures (2 and 9 µg/g DW, respectively).