The complexity of sound quantification of specialized metabolite biosynthesis: The stress related impact on the alkaloid content of Catharanthus roseus. 

 -  PhytoChemistry, 187, p.112774., 2021 .
<br/><br/> Medicinal plants grown under stress conditions reveal higher concentrations of relevant specialized metabolites than well-watered plants, putatively due to an enhanced biosynthesis. Yet, stress also reduced the biomass gain. Accordingly, the concentration increase in comparison to control plants could also be due to lesser biomass employed as the reference value, whereas the rate of biosynthesis may remain unchanged. For an unequivocal proof that stress indeed enhances the biosynthesis, the total amount of the substances per plant has to be determined. In this study, we investigated the stress-induced impact on the alkaloids accumulated in Catharanthus roseus and quantified both, the changes in concentration and in the entire amount of alkaloids. 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>INDOLE ALKALOIDS<br/>DROUGHT STRESS<br/>SALT STRESS<br/>CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS, ALKALOID BIOSYNTHESIS