Anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions in cell suspension cultures of Camptotheca acuminata Decne.

We demonstrated the presence of anthocyanic vacuolar inclusion (AVI) in anthocyanin-producing cells of Camptotheca acuminata Decne cultured in vitro. During the four cell growth cycles, the number of cells with a colourless vacuole decreased. The percentage of cells with AVIs increased during the first and second cell growth cycles and then decreased. This decrease was accompanied by a considerable increase in the percentage of cells with no AVIs, with anthocyanins dissolved in the vacuolar solution. The cytochemical analysis applied to the transmission electron microscopy, revealed the presence of a protein component in the shell of the AVIs.