Studies on somatic cell variability in Commiphora wightii (Arnott.) Bhandari for guggulsterone production.

More than 125 clones were established in Commiphora wightii (Arnott.) Bhandari by aggregate cloning from stock cultures maintained on MS medium supplemented with 0.25 mg/l 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 0.1 mg/l kinetin. A few high productive clones were isolated while majority (>80%) were low productive. In the present paper, the somatic cell variability in callus cultures of C. wightii and their growth in shake flasks and bioreactor for high yield of guggulsterones has been reported. A high productive clone yielded 80µg/l guggulsterones when grown in cell suspension culture in shake flasks and 2 litre stirred tank bioreactor. The colour variations of the cultures (due to anthocyanin accumulation) were also explored to isolate high guggulsterone producing lines; however, no correlationship could be established between anthocyanin accumulation and guggulsterone contents of the clones.