Accumulation of Cd²⁺ and Pb²⁺ in the suspension cultures of Agave amaniensis and Costus speciosus and the determination of the culture's growth and phytosteroid content

Abstract

Cell suspension cultures of Agave amaniensis and Costus speciosus were grown in media containing Cd^{2 +} up to 25 and 20 mg l⁻¹, respectively, and Pb²⁺ up to 40 mg l⁻¹. The cultures hyper-accumulated Cd²⁺ up to 900 and 530 μg g⁻¹ and Pb²⁺ up to 1390 and 1170 μg g⁻¹ dry wt. in their respective biomasses. Increasing Pb²⁺ up to 30 mg l⁻¹ increased the biomass production and total sitosterol content of Costus speciosus by up to 1.7- and 1.3-fold, respectively.