Patterns of accumulation of duvatrienediols in shoot cultures of tobacco.

The accumulation of duvatrienediols associated with the glandular exudate of tobacco trichomes was investigated in tobacco shoot cultures. The pattern of accumulation was related to culture growth. α and β duvatrienediols showed the same pattern of accumulation appearing in a ratio of 2∶1 increasing to 3∶1 during senescence. Both epimers were absent from newly subcultured tissue but started to accumulate two weeks after subculture and increased in parallel with fresh weight until the stationary phase was reached. A further increase (two-fold) in the yield of both epimers was observed during the stationary phase. However, with the onset of senescence both epimers began to disappear. The use of sterile cultures precluded the possibility of losses of duvatrienediols due to microbial degradation although duvatriendiols could be subject either to chemical or metabolic degradation/turnover continuously or during senescence and should not be regarded as stable end products of metabolism.