Acid phosphatase activity of normal and tumor tissue of tobacco grown in vitro and in vivo

Tissue cultures of Nicotiana labacum consisting of green, albino and habituated (normal origin) and teratoma (tomorous origin) were grown under asceptic conditions for 6 to 8 weeks and their extracts were analyzed for phosphatase activity. Comparative enzyme analyses were also made on crude stem extracts of greenhouse-grown normal and tumor tissues of Nicotiana tabacum (var. Wisconsin) and a hybrid (N. glauca × N. langsdorffii).

All the crude extracts showed acid phosphatase activity with a pH optimum at 5.8 to 6.0. The total protein content and enzyme acivity of teratoma tissue (tumor) was higher than that of green, albino or habituated tissue (normal). Similar increased levels were seen in tumor tissue grown in greenhouse in comparison with greenhouse-grown normal tissues. The crude extracts of each of the tissues did not exhibit any qualitative difference in specificity with the 5 different substrates tested; however, differences in the level of activity was observed.

The effect of 4 different culture media was tested on the growth, protein content and acid phosphatase activity of habituated tobacco in tissue culture. Tissues growing in medium containing high salt concentrations showed higher activities than tissues grown in a basal control medium. From the results, it is suggested that although many factors like auxin and other growth factors can influence growth of habituated tobacco tissue, they need not necessarily affect this specific enzyme activity.