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Enhancement of production of pharmaceutically important anti-cancerous compound; cucurbitacin E via elicitation and precursor feeding of in vitro culture of Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schard

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Abstract

Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schard (Cucurbitaceae) is an endangered medicinal herb. It contains glycosides, cucurbitacins (colocynthin and colocynthetin), cucurbitacins A, B, C, D, E, I, J, K and L which are having medicinal values in various parts of the plant. Cucurbitacin E, a highly oxidated steroid consisting of a tetracyclic triterpene which is more potential triterpenoid for anti-cancer. In this study, we made an attempt to investigate the effect of elicitors with methyl jasmonate (MeJA), salicylic acid (SA), precursors like squalene and mevalonic acid as abiotic elicitors. Precursors were used for enhancement production of cucurbitacin E through cell suspension culture and in vitro plant cultures of Citrullus colocynthis. Based on HPLC results, MeJA is better elicitor than SA and in precursors squalene is better than mevalonic acid for cucurbitacin E production from Citrullus colocynthis cell suspension and in vitro plant cultures. Among all the concentration of elicitors MeJA, SA and precursors squalene, mevalonic acid, 75 µM concentrations have shown best results and MeJA showed highest peak area of 17.97 with 8.63 fold in cell suspension culture. Whereas, the effect of elicitor and precursor feeding studies in in vitro plant culture have produced high amount of cucurbitacin E at 100 µM concentration. Hence, the protocol established in the present study provides an opportunity for enhancement of biological active (anticancer) compound cucurbitacin E.

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Abbreviations

MeJA:

Methyl jasmonate

SA:

Salicylic acid

PGR:

Plant growth regulators

BAP:

6-Benzyl amino purine

2,4-D:

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

TDZ:

Thidiazuron

NAA:

1-Naphthaleneacetic acid

IAA:

Indole-3-acetic acid

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

MS:

Murashige and Skoog’s medium

RT:

Retention time

μg:

Microgram

μl:

Microliter

μM:

Micromole

mg:

Milligram

min:

Minutes

mM:

Millimolar

HCl:

Hydrocloric acid

HgCl2 :

Mercury (II) chloride

NaOH:

Sodium hydroxide

DMSO:

Dimethyl sulfoxide

PSI:

Pounds per square inch

Gms:

Grams

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Acknowledgements

The Principal Investigator Dr. T. Shasthree is thankful to UGC New Delhi for financial assistance in the form of Major Research Project Vide F. No.: 41-530/2012 (SR) during July 2012–July 2015 for this work. Also thanks to Department of Biotechnology, Kakatiya University Warangal for providing facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana State, 506009, India

    Ramakrishna Dasari, Chaitanya Gopu, Suvarchala Vankudoth, Sunitha Dharavath & Shasthree Taduri

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  1. Ramakrishna Dasari
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  2. Chaitanya Gopu
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  3. Suvarchala Vankudoth
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  4. Sunitha Dharavath
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  5. Shasthree Taduri
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Correspondence to Shasthree Taduri.

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Dasari, R., Gopu, C., Vankudoth, S. et al. Enhancement of production of pharmaceutically important anti-cancerous compound; cucurbitacin E via elicitation and precursor feeding of in vitro culture of Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schard. Vegetos 33, 323–334 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-020-00110-z

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