Biotransformation of Tryptamine to Serotonin by Cell Suspension Cultures of Peganum harmala.
Cell suspension cultures of P. HARMALA, unable to form serotonin DE-NOVO, hydroxylated fed tryptamine to serotonin independently of the growth cycle up to 20 mg per g dry mass per day. The best biotransformation yield of 80% was obtained with a high cell density (30 g fresh mass/100 ml) and a 5 mM tryptamine concentration in the transformation medium. Under these conditions the cells accumulated serotonin up to 7.5% per unit dry mass, and a maximum yield of 800 mg serotonin/l was achieved. Other indoleethylamines such as alpha-methyltryptamine, N-methyltryptamine, and 6-fluorotryptamine were also transformed to the corresponding 5-hydroxyl compounds, while N,N-dimethyltryptamine, 7-methyltryptamine, tyramine, and phenylethylamine were not hydroxylated.
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GBF-Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Mascheroder Weg 1, D-3300 Braunschweig, Federal Republic of Germany.
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Berlin
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