Patterns of accumulation of camptothecin, an anti-cancer alkaloid in Nothapodytes nimmoniana Graham., in the Western Ghats, India: Implications for identifying high-yielding sources of the alkaloid

摘要

Camptothecin, a monoterpene indole alkaloid, is regardedudas one of the most promising anticancer drugs of theudtwenty-first century. Among the various plant sources,udthe highest yields of the alkaloid are reported fromudNothapodytes nimmoniana (Icacinaceae), a small treeuddistributed in the Indian subcontinent. Because of theudenormous demand for the chemical worldwide, there has been an indiscriminate extraction of the trees from many parts of India, especially from the Western Ghats, a mega-diversity forest range along the western coast ofudIndia. Recently the tree has been assigned a vulnerableudstatus. In an effort to conserve the remaining populations of the species and to identify high-yielding sources of the alkaloid, attempts are being initiated in chemically profiling the species. As a first step in this direction, we have attempted to establish the general patterns of accumulation of camptothecin in N. nimmoniana across individuals, plant parts, plant size and sex of plants, in the Western Ghats. Individual trees with as high as 100 per cent greater camptothecin content than hitherto reported have been found. The study indicates the potentiality of further screening populations of N. nimmoniana to identify high-yielding sources that can be used for developing in vitro production systems or for establishing high-yielding clonal populations.