Selection of tobacco cell lines with high yields of cinnamoyl putrescines.

Cell lines of NICOTIANA TABACUM resistant to either L-phenylalanine, DL-meta-fluorophenylalanine (MFP) or L-ornithine, have been selected in order to establish by this means cell strains with higher yields of cinnamoyl putrescines. Except for three MFP-resistant cell lines, all selected strains accumulated 2 to 5 times more cinnamoyl putrescines than the non-resistant wild type cells. In some lines this increase was accompanied by increased activities of enzymes which were likewise involved in the biosynthesis of cinnamoyl putrescines and in the metabolism/degradation of the selecting agents. The qualitative pattern of phenolic compounds did not change in any of the resistant cell lines.