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Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Merwilla plumbea Cultured In Vitro with Different Cytokinins After 1 Year of Growth Under Ex Vitro Conditions

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Abstract

Since their discovery in the 1950s, cytokinins (CKs) have become integral, almost indispensable, components of plant growth media in in vitro propagation. However, despite the extensive use of exogenous CKs in plant tissue culture systems, there is a paucity of knowledge on the longevity of their physiological effect post in vitro. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term physiological effect of CKs (including a novel meta-topolin derivative) applied during in vitro propagation of Merwilla plumbea after 1 year of ex vitro growth. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) was used for the quantification of endogenous auxins and phenolic compounds in the 1-year-old M. plumbea plants. Compared to the control, exogenous CKs had a significant carry-over effect on ex vitro growth of M. plumbea plants after 1 year growing under ex vitro conditions. M. plumbea plants treated with the novel CK 6-(3-hydroxybenzylamino)-9-(tetrahydropyran-2-yl)purine (mTTHP, 1.0 µM) had significantly higher leaf area per plant, total leaf fresh weight and bulb diameter. Varying concentrations of free indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), oxindole-3-acetic acid (OxIAA) and indole-3-acetyl-l-aspartic acid (IAA-Asp) were detected in leaves of plants originally treated with exogenous CKs, whereas these compounds were absent in leaves of plants without exogenous CKs. Likewise, a CK-type and concentration-dependent response was observed for hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids and antioxidant activity of the extracts. The current study showed the influence of type and concentration of exogenous CKs used in vitro on production of phytochemical compounds during ex vitro growth. Taken together, the study provides significant insights on the residual effect of exogenous CKs on the regulation of auxin homeostasis and phenolic acid and/or flavonoid metabolism in 1-year-old M. plumbea plants growing under ex vitro conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The National Research Foundation and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa provided financial support. This work was also financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Czech Republic (Grant LO1204 from the National Program of Sustainability). We thank Mrs Alison Young (UKZN Botanical Garden, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) and her staff for their assistance in maintaining the greenhouse facilities.

Contributions

M.M., S.O.A. and A.O.A. conceived research idea and designed the experiments. L.P. and K.D. synthesized the meta-topolins and prepared 6-(3-hydroxybenzylamino)-9-(tetrahydropyran-2-yl)purine. J.G. and M.S. quantified the phenolic compounds while AP conducted the auxin analysis. M.M., A.O.A., S.O.A., A.P., J.G. and M.S. analysed the data. M.M. wrote the draft manuscript with help from S.O.A. and A.O.A. K.D. and J.V.S. contributed research facilities/reagents/materials and supervised the research. All authors read and edited the final manuscript.

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  1. Stephen O. Amoo

    Present address: Roodeplaat Vegetable and Ornamental Plant, Agricultural Research Council, Private Bag X293, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa

    Mack Moyo, Stephen O. Amoo, Adeyemi O. Aremu & Johannes Van Staden

  2. Laboratory of Growth Regulators and Department of Chemical Biology and Genetics, Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Faculty of Science, Palacký University and Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR, Šlechtitelů 11, 783 71, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Lucie Plíhalová, Jiří Gruz, Michaela Šubrtová, Aleš Pěnčík & Karel Doležal

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  1. Mack Moyo
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Correspondence to Johannes Van Staden.

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Moyo, M., Amoo, S.O., Aremu, A.O. et al. Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Merwilla plumbea Cultured In Vitro with Different Cytokinins After 1 Year of Growth Under Ex Vitro Conditions. J Plant Growth Regul 36, 83–95 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-016-9621-2

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