Biochemical and Morphological Changes during the Growth Kinetics of Araucaria angustifolia Suspension Cultures

Embryogenic cultures of Araucaria angustifolia were established in a BM liquid medium supplemented with 2 mu M 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 1 mu M 6-benzylaminopurine and 1 mu M kinetin (BM2) and in a BM medium free of growth regulators (BM0). During 42 days in culture, the cell growth pattern of both cultures was similar. The pH of the culture medium of both BM0 and BM2 underwent progressive reduction during culture time. For both the embryogenic cultures a preferential uptake of glucose in the late stages of cell growth kinetics was observed. The extracellular protein content was similar for both the embryogenic cultures. Acetocarmine and Evan's blue double stain showed major differences for early somatic embryo organisation, in which only the embryogenic culture grown in a liquid culture medium free of plant growth regulators showed the presence of bipolar somatic proembryos.