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A 12-deoxywithastramonolide-rich somaclonal variant in Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal—molecular cytogenetic analysis and significance as a chemotypic resource

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Abstract

Withania somnifera, commonly known as ashwagandha or Indian ginseng, is a valuable medicinal plant, synthesizing a wide array of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites known as withanolides. In this study, we investigated variation among 54 regenerated plants attained through indirect organogenesis from leaf explants. Organogenic calli were induced on Murashige and Skoog medium containing 2 mg l−1 kinetin and 1 mg l−1 indole-3-butyric acid. High-performance liquid chromatography was used for quantitative determination of the major withanolides in the somaclones. One somaclone (WS-R-1) showed significantly higher accumulation of 12-deoxywithastramonolide (WS-12D; 0.516%) compared to the explant donor mother plant (0.002%). The incidence of somaclonal variation at the cytological level was investigated by studying mitosis and meiosis in relation to chromosome number and structural organization. There were no alterations in chromosome phenotypes, somatic chromosome count, or meiotic behavior. Fidelity at genomic level was evaluated by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses, which revealed multiple genetic polymorphisms between the WS-12D over-producing somaclone and the explant donor mother plant. This study demonstrates the capability of inducing chemotypic variability for the development of high-yielding clones due to molecular instability in W. somnifera using an in vitro approach.

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Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge the financial grant from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India, New Delhi under Network Project NWP 0008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR), Canal Road, Jammu, Tawi, 180001, India

    Satiander Rana, Niha Dhar, Wajid W. Bhat, Sumeer Razdan, Shabnam Khan, Rekha S. Dhar & Surrinder K. Lattoo

  2. Natural Products Chemistry, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR), Canal Road, Jammu, Tawi, 180001, India

    Prabhu Dutt

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  1. Satiander Rana
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  2. Niha Dhar
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  3. Wajid W. Bhat
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  4. Sumeer Razdan
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  6. Rekha S. Dhar
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  7. Prabhu Dutt
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  8. Surrinder K. Lattoo
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Correspondence to Surrinder K. Lattoo.

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Editor: J. Forster

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Rana, S., Dhar, N., Bhat, W.W. et al. A 12-deoxywithastramonolide-rich somaclonal variant in Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal—molecular cytogenetic analysis and significance as a chemotypic resource. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 48, 546–554 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-012-9458-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-012-9458-8

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