In vitro cultures of Drosera aliciae as a source of a cytotoxic naphthoquinone: ramentaceone.

A protocol for the in vitro propagation of Drosera aliciae to increase the yield of the naphthoquinone, ramentaceone, was developed. The highest micropropagation coefficient was obtained using half-strength Murashige-Skoog medium supplemented with 0.4 μM 6-benzyladenine (BA). The genetic fidelity and stability of the regenerated plants was confirmed with RAPD markers. The activity of the isolated ramentaceone was determined against four human tumor cell lines: U937, HeLa, MCF-7, HCT-116 with the highest cytotoxic activity towards the leukemic U937 cell line with an IC(50) value of 3.2 μM.