Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Family Icacinaceae), a small tree naturally distributed in many parts of the Western Ghats of South India, is an excellent source of quinoline alkaloids, Camptothecin (CPT) and 9-Methoxy Camptothecin (9-OMeCPT) which are used clinically as anticancer agents as such or after derivatization for the treatment of solid tumors (Govindachari and Vishvanathan, 1972; and Thengane et al., 2003). The cellular target of CPT is DNA topoisomerase I, and numerous analogs have been synthesized as potential therapeutic agents (Wall and Wani, 1995). Camptothecin inhibits the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) replication in vitro and is also shown to be effective in the complete remission of lung, breast and uterine cervical cancer (Priel et al., 1991; and Potmesil, 1994). The molecular and cytotoxic effect of camptothecin on Plasmodium falciparum provided enough proof for the concept that camptothecin is an interesting target for a new antimalarial drug development (Bodley et al., 1998; and Fulzele et al., 2002).
The present study reports the effect of ecogeographical factors on the production of secondary metabolites in N. nimmoniana. Four different accessions were collected from Bangalore, Sirsi, Kolhapur and Munnar and were used as starting material to induce callus. This comparative study of accessions from different geographical regions helps to demonstrate the extent of influence of the genetic and environmental factors on the presence of secondary metabolites. |
