Influence of gibberellic acid on 14CO2 metabolism, growth, and production of alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus

Changes in growth parameters, carbon assimilation efficiency, and utilization of (CO2)-C-14 assimilate into alkaloids in plant parts were investigated at whole plant level by treatment of Catharanthus roseus with gibberellic acid (GA). Application of GA (1 000 g m(-3)) resulted in changes in leaf morphology, increase in stem elongation, leaf and internode length, plant height, and decrease in biomass content. Phenotypic changes were accompanied by decrease in contents of chlorophylls and in photosynthetic capacity. GA application resulted in higher % of total alkaloids accumulated in leaf, stem, and root. GA treatment produced negative phenotypic response in total biomass production but positive response in content of total alkaloids in leaf, stem, and roots. C-14 assimilate partitioning revealed that C-14 distribution in leaf, stem, and root of treated plants was higher than in untreated and variations were observed in contents of metabolites as sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. Capacity to utilize current fixed C-14 derived assimilates for alkaloid production was high in leaves but low in roots of treated plants despite higher content of C-14 metabolites such as sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. In spite of higher availability of metabolites, their utilization into alkaloid production is low in GA-treated roots.