A short-time increase of quinolizidine alkaloid accumulation can be induced in cell suspension cultures of Lupinus polyphyllus by application of foreign alkaloids such as papaverine, coniine, and other compounds like cAMP, polyamines, or even by transfer of the cells into fresh, autoclaved cell culture medium. This induction can be inhibited by cycloheximide. Using the same method of induction we were able to show quinolizidine alkaloid accumulation in cell cultures of 6 species (Conium maculatum, Daucus carota, Atropa belladonna, Chenopodium rubrum, Spinacia oleracea, Symphytum officinale), which are supposed to produce other alkaloids or no alkaloids at all. This indicates that the genes of quinolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis are obviously not restricted to the Fabaceae family but are widely distributed in higher plants.
