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Molecular mechanism of elicitor-induced tanshinone accumulation in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures

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Abstract

To develop an optimal bioprocess for the production of tanshinone which is mainly used for the treatment of cardiocerebral vascular disease, the tanshinone biosynthetic pathway regulation must be better understood. In this paper, expression of tanshinone biosynthetic pathway related genes as well as tanshinone accumulation in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures were investigated, in response to biotic and abiotic elicitors, respectively. Our results showed tanshinone accumulation in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots was highly regulated by the coordination of the expression of several genes involved in tanshinone biosynthesis pathway. Our results showed a positive correlation between gene expression and tanshinone accumulation, suggesting that tanshinone accumulation may be the result of the coexpression up-regulation of several genes involved in tanshinone biosynthesis under the treatment of various elicitors. Meantime, SmHMGR, SmDXS2, SmFPPS, SmGGPPS and SmCPS were identified as the potential key enzymes in the pathway for targeted metabolic engineering to increase accumulation of tanshinone in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots. This is the first report integrating comprehensively the transcript and metabolite biosynthesis of tanshinone in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots.

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Abbreviations

T2A:

Tanshinone IIA

CT:

Cryptotanshinone

BABA:

β-Aminobutyric acid

MJ:

Methyl jasmonate

YE:

Yeast extract

fw:

Fresh weight

SA:

Salicylic acid

DW:

Dry weight

RT:

Reverse transcriptase

AACT:

Acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase

HMGS:

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase

HMGR:

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase

MK:

Mevalonate kinase

PMK:

5-Phosphomevalonate kinase

MDC:

Mevalonate 5-diphosphate decarboxylase

DXS:

1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase

DXR:

1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase

MCT:

2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate cytidyl transferase

CMK:

4-(cytidine 5-diphospho)-2-C-methyl-d-erythritol kinase

MECPS:

2-C-methylerythritol 2,4-cyclodiphosphate synthase

HDS:

1-Hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl-4-diphosphate synthase

HDR:

1-Hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl-4-diphosphate reductase

IPPI:

Isopentenyl-diphosphate delta-isomerase

GPPS:

Geranyl diphosphate synthase

FPPS:

Farnesyl diphosphate synthase

GGPPS:

Geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase

CPS:

Copalyl diphosphate synthase

KSL:

Kaurene synthase-like

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Fund (30900110), Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Project (10JC1412000, 09QH1401900, 06QA14038, 08391911800, 073158202, 075405117, 065458022, 05ZR14093), Project from Ministry of Science and Technology of China (NC2010AE0075, NC2010AE0372), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Fund (Y2080621), Shanghai Education Committee Fund (09ZZ138, 06DZ015, J50401), Fujian Science and Technology Committee Key Special Project (2008NZ0001-4), National Transgenic Organism New Variety Culture Key Project (2009ZX08012-002B), Project from Shanghai Normal University (SK201230, SK201236, SK200830). We gratefully thank Kyle Andrew Schneider (University of Dayton, Ohio, USA) for grammatical correction of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, College of Life and Environment Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, People’s Republic of China

    Guoyin Kai, Pan Liao, Hui Xu, Jing Wang, Congcong Zhou, Wei Zhou, Yaping Qi & Jianbo Xiao

  2. Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    Yuliang Wang

  3. Department of Pharmacy, Shaoxing People’s Hospital, Shaoxing, 312000, People’s Republic of China

    Lin Zhang

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  1. Guoyin Kai
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  2. Pan Liao
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Correspondence to Guoyin Kai.

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Communicated by B. Borkowska.

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Kai, G., Liao, P., Xu, H. et al. Molecular mechanism of elicitor-induced tanshinone accumulation in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures. Acta Physiol Plant 34, 1421–1433 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-0940-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-0940-z

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