Our objective was to study the influence of methyl jasmonate (MJ) on biosynthesis of gallic acid (GA) in cell suspension of Acer ginnala. MJ was added into A. ginnala suspension and the cells were sampled at a series of time points after induction. The content of GA was determined by an HPLC method, the conductivity of the media was measured by a conductivity meter, the dissolvable protein content of the cells was determined by spectrophotometry and the cell shape was recorded by confocal microscopy. The results showed that: (1) induced by MJ 100 μmol·L^-1 for 24 hours, the production of GA reached the peak (12.49 mg·g^-1) which is about twice of that of control. (2) The pH value and conductivity of the media were dynamic after induction by MJ. The cell membrane was damaged, with increased permeability. Few cells had several nuclei. (3) The soluable protein content of the cell had three peaks at 24 h, 72 h and 5 d after induced, respectively, which are 1.4, 1.67 and 2.07 times of those of control, respectively. (4) The activity of phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL) reached the peak at 25 h and 5 d of postinduction, respectively, which were twice and 3.75 times of control, respectively. These results indicate that after shorttime induction, the GA content is accumulated, the activity of PAL and the content of soluable proteins also increased, whereas the pH value and conductivity of the media did not alter significantly.