Preliminary Evaluation of Somaclonal Variation for the In Vitro Production of New Toxic Proteins from Viscum album L.

SUMMARY

In an attempt at preliminary evaluation of the effect of somaclonal variation on the production of white berry mistletoe (Viscum album L.) proteins, one hundred individual callus tissues were assayed for their protein content by means of SDS-PAGE. Somaclonal variation in the qualitative aspect was relatively low (8%). However, variation in quantitative terms was high and in 10% of the calli a protein concentration six times higher than in stems was observed. These results indicate for the first time the possibility of applying tissue culture for the production of mistletoe protein extracts with increased antitumor/immuno-modulatory properties.

KEYWORDS:

• Callus culture
• mistletoe
• lectin
• somaclonal variation
• viscotoxin
• Viscum album