Fate of chloramphenicol in tobacco tissue culture under various light regimes

Abstract. Non‐differentiated tissue cultures (calli) and differentiated tissues (shoots) of tobacco were found to differ in their sensitivity to chloramphenicol (CAP). This phenomenon is especially manifested in darkness and in an illumination regime lacking u.v. and blue light. When the latter are included, CAP's photodegradation products are shown to appear. It seems that one of the main photodegradation pathways is through the production of p‐nitro‐benzaldehyde (p‐NBA) which is further degraded. The possibility that either acetylation or physiological nitration of CAP is the cause for the differential tolerance was eliminated. The chromatographic and radiographic results indicate that in vivo degradation of CAP occurs both in calli and in shoot cultures. One of the in vivo degradation products is CAP‐base.