Photoautotrophic Growth and Photosynthesis in Tobacco Callus Cells

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Abstract
Haploid tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cell cultures derived from quite different cultivars have been grown photoautotrophically in medium lacking sucrose and with 1.6 μm naphthaleneacetic acid and 1.5 μm isopentenylaminopurine. Cells were grown for 5 months on agar medium in Petri plates in air with dry weight increases of 1.5- to 3-fold per month. Callus cells were also grown photoautotrophically for at least three consecutive transfers 3 weeks apart in shallow liquid medium in horizontally placed gas-washing bottles where they were gassed continuously with air or air enriched with CO2. Raising the CO2 level in the air surrounding the cells increased the growth rate, and after about 3 weeks in 1% CO2 the dry weight was approximately 3-fold greater than the inoculum. Growth rates remained about the same after each consecutive transfer. Autotrophic growth with this regime is not restricted to specific clones or cultivars.