Three lines of hairy root culture of Ambrosia maritima induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC15834 were established. Thiarubrine A, thiarubrine A epoxide, thiarubrine A diol and their precursor pentayneene were produced by the hairy roots after elicitation with methyl jasmonate, the common signal molecule in the plant defense and development. Thiarubrine A diol was the main form detected in the medium. Maximum yield was achieved when the 13-day-old hairy root cultures were exposed to 40 lM methyl jasmonate for 72 h. Callus and cell suspension cultures were established and maintained on Murashige and Skoog medium supplied with a-naphthylacetic acid (NAA) and kinetin. When the cell suspension cultures were elicited with methyl jasmonate, pentayneene was the only polyacetylene produced. The yield of pentayneene in hairy root cultures was much higher (9.6 times) than that of cell suspension cultures.Abbreviations: DEPT -distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer; FAB-MS -fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy; HMBC -heteronuclear multiple bond correlation; MeJ -methyl jasmonate

Silybum marianum is an important medicinal plant used for hepatic disorders. Two varieties exist for this plant S. marianum var. album (white-flowered) and S. marianum var. purple (purple-flowered). A fast and simple method (RAPD) was developed for authentication of S. marianum varieties (purple- and white- flowered) at a DNA level. The two varieties were distinguished by polymorphic bands generated by four decamer primers, namely, OPP-10, OPG-03, OPG-01, and OPC-17. The developed RAPD method will be useful for practical authentication of S. marianum varieties and their adulterants. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 24(1): 57-63, 2014 (June) D. O. I. http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ptcb.v24i1.19200