Major Indole Alkaloids Produced in Cell Suspension Cultures of Rhazya strict a Decaisne

Eleven main alkaloids were identified from cell suspension cultures of Rhazya stricta grown in 4X-medium for 15 days. The alkaloids comprised the five groups Corynanthe, Strychnos, Eburnan, Secodine, and Aspidosperma and can be regarded as being typical Rhazya alkaloids, al­ though the Strychnos alkaloid akuammicine has been isolated for the first time from the genus Rhazya. The most abundant compound was ( + )-l,2-dehydroaspidospermidine (15 mg/1 medium) whereas all other constituents were synthesized in about 5 — 10 times lower amounts. More than 15 further alkaloids were formed as minor components which have not yet been identified. Culti­ vated Rhazya cells have been shown to be one of the richest alkaloid sources from apocynaceous cell suspensions. The isolated compounds, because of their structural heterogeneity, cannot be presently arranged into a scheme with coherent biosynthetic sequences.