Biotransformation of salicylaldehyde to salicin using Varthemia persica cell suspension cultures

Cell cultures of varthemia persica dc. have been studied to evaluate theirabilities in biotransformation of aromatic and aliphatic precursors. v. persica(asteraceae) is an aromatic plant growing in iran. v. persica contain differentterpens but its cell culture does not posses these compounds. callus cultures of v.persica was established from seedlings and healthy suspensions were grown usingmurashige and skoog (ms) medium supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2 mg/l) and kinetin (0.2 mg/l). then exogenous precursors were fed tov. persica cell suspension cultures. biotransformation reactions were monitored after24 h of incubation. the cultures then extracted with dichloromethane or methanoland concentrated within nitrogen stream. the extracts subjected to gaschromatography (gc) or thin layer chromatography (tlc) analysis. v. persicacultured cells in this study seem to exhibit ability in glucosylation of salicylaldehydeto salicin. no conversion was observed with several precursors fed to thecultures. the ability of cultured plant cells in biotransformation of the precursorsappears to be depending on the substrate structure and active enzymes available inthe cultures. it seems that in cultured cells of this plant only glucosylation enzymesare active.