Agrobacterium rhizogenes mediated transformation of Rhodiola sp. - an approach to enhance the level of bioactive compounds

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Rhodiola rosea, commonly known as roseroot, has since ancient times been used against depression and for improving mental abilities because of its bioactive compounds. Due to excessive exploitation, the natural populations have been declining. Natural transformation with root-loci (rol)-genes from wildtype Agrobacterium rhizogenes causes transformed hairy roots to develop from the site of infection. Many transformed roots exhibit higher contents of secondary metabolites compared to wildtype roots. The purpose of this study was to obtain transformed root cultures containing rol-genes from in vivo grown Rhodiola sp. for future sustainable production of bioactive compounds. For the experiment, in vivo grown stems and leaves of R. rosea and two accessions of R. pachyclados were inoculated with A. rhizogenes strain ATCC43057 in sterile conditions. Subsequent growth of putatively transformed roots in simulated bioreactors including various concentrations of the auxin, indole acetic acid (IAA) were used to improve the growth of the roots. Of R. pachyclados accession no. 1, 41%±10 of inoculated stem explants developed roots. This was not significantly different from the controls of which 53%±0 developed roots. From R. rosea 20%±20 of stem explants developed roots with no control stem explants developing any roots. Of the inoculated leaf explants of R. rosea 15%±5 developed roots which were significantly more than the control leaf explants where no roots developed. No leaf explants of R. pachyclados developed any roots during the experiment. The putatively transformed roots transferred to simulated bioreactors increased in weight with no significant differences between the auxin treatments. The preliminary results indicate that the inoculation of Rhodiola sp. might have resulted in transformed roots. The control roots were indistinguishable from the roots of the inoculated explants, thus selecting transformants will rely solely on PCR tests.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the International Symposium on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products
EditorsJ. Ghaemghami, A. Cuerrier
Number of pages8
PublisherInternational Society for Horticultural Science
Publication date2015
Pages143-150
ISBN (Electronic)978-94-62610-97-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
EventInternational Symposium on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products - Montreal, Canada
Duration: 17 Jun 201319 Jun 2013

Conference

ConferenceInternational Symposium on Medicinal Plants and Natural Products
LandCanada
ByMontreal
Periode17/06/201319/06/2013
SeriesActa Horticulturae
Volume1098
ISSN0567-7572

    Research areas

  • Natural transformation, Rol-genes, Rosavin, Roseroot, Salidroside

ID: 160020129