Growth Behavior of a Liverwort, Jungermannia subulata Evans, in a Cell Suspension Culture. The Role of Organic Acids Required for Cell Growth

A green callus of a liverwort, Jungermannia subulata Evans,was induced from gametophytes, and a cell suspension culturewas obtained from the callus. Both callus and suspension-culturedcells grew in a modified Murashige and Skoog medium if organicacids of the TCA cycle were supplied. In the cell suspensionculture of J. subulata, ammonium was taken up preferentiallyby the cells particularly at the earliest stage of growth, whileonly a negligible amount of nitrate was utilized as long asammonium was present in the medium, and this unbalanced utilizationof the two nitrogen sources caused an abrupt drop in the pHof the medium. The organic acids of the TCA cycle supportedthe growth of this cell line by preventing the abrupt drop inthe pH of the medium. (Received June 13, 1981; Accepted October 8, 1981)