The literature concerning the regulation and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in cell and tissue cultures of Catharanthus roseus is reviewed. The aim of this review is to summarise the progress achieved since the previous review of this subject from 1988 to December 1993. Several factors influencing the production of indole alkaloids are discussed. Special attention is given to large-scale cultivation methods. Some economic considerations on the production of ajmalicine are also discussed. ranth~ ro~eu~ cited in ~ C~c~ Abs~acts ~tween 1950 ~d 1993.most valuable components, the dimeric alkaloids vincristine and vinblastine, have so far only been detected in callus or organ cultures of C. roseus (Miura & Hirata 1982; Hoffmann et al. 1982;Miura et al. 1988).