ANTHOCYANIN PRODUCTION IN SELECTED CELL-LINES OF GRAPE (VITIS-VINIFERA L)

Anthocyanin production of two lines of Vitis vinifera cell cultures, i.e., 5.4 and 13.1, which were obtained from the same starting material after 20 and 37 mo. of clonal selection, respectively, was investigated. Cell suspension cultures of lines 5.4 and 13.1 maintained an anthocyanin content of 0.44 +/- 0.15 and 1.02 +/- 0.31 mg . g(-1) fresh weight during 50 and 32 weekly maintenance subcultures, respectively. Under anthocyanin-promoting culture conditions, both lines showed an enhancement of their anthocyanin level by approximately fourfold. While line 5.4 accumulated peonidin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3-glucoside in decreasing order, line 13.1 accumulated primarily peonidin 3-p-coumaroylglucoside with lesser amounts of malvidin monoglucoside. Results show that while the anthocyanin content was improved during the course of repeated selections, the anthocyanin composition was modified markedly favoring the accumulation of more metabolically-advanced anthocyanins.