Arnebia euchroma callus, obtained from the root cell culture of an Iranian native specimen, has gained a doubling time of 63 H after regular subculturing on Linsmaier-Skoog (LS) medium containing sugar (50 g/L), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (10(-6) M), and kinetin (10(-5) M) under darkness at 25°C. Despite the observed somaclonal variations, peroxidase production by the A. euchroma calli has been stable over 4 years under the aforementioned conditions. Isoelectric focusing experiments revealed that the partially purified A. euchroma peroxidases (AePoxs) are mainly anionic with pI values of about 5.5 and 6.6. AePox reaches its optimal activity at 55°C and pH 7.5. Results of the various kinetic studies suggest that AePox belongs to the type III plant peroxidases with no activity for the oxidation of 3-indoleacetic acid, but seems to play a role in the lignin biosynthesis and H(2) O(2) regulation during the proliferation of the A. euchroma cells on LS medium. Comparing the biochemical properties of AePox with horseradish peroxidase and in view of the ease of solid cell culture, the A. euchroma callus could be considered as a source of plant peroxidase for some biotechnological applications.