Summary
Photomixotrophic (Pm) micropropagation systems (ones that use a sugar-containing medium) have been used by many rescarchers for transplant production of St. John's wort. However, these methods have not yet been adopted for commercial applications, probably due to the low percentage of regeneration in vitro, and a low growth rate after transplanting ex vitro. In contrast, it is well known that the use of a photoautotrophic (Pa) micropropagation system (one that uses sugar-free medium) can promote the growth and improve the quality of plantlets in vitro, and enhance the growth during acclimatization for many plant species. In the current study, leafy nodal cuttings were cultured under Pa conditions and the growth and quality were compared with those cultured under Pm conditions. After 21d of culture, Pa conditions enhanced the growth and quality of St. John's wort plantlets in vitro, and these plantlets showed faster growth after transplantaing ex vitro compared with those cultured under Pm conditions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afreen, F.; Zobayed, S. M. A.; Kubota, C.; Kozai, T. Physiology of in vitro plantlets grown photoautotrophically. In: Kubota, C.; Chun, C., eds. Transplant production in the 21st century. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers: 2000:238–245.
Afreen-Zobayed, F.; Zobayed, S. M. A.; Kubota, C.; Kozai, T.; Hasegawa, O. Supporting material affects the growth and development of in vitro sweet potato plantlets cultured photoautotrophically. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. Plant. 35:470–474; 1999.
Consumers Safety Symposium on Dietary Supplements and Herbs. New Good Honsekeeping Institute study finds drastic diserepancy in potencies of popular herbal supplement. New York: Good Housekeeping Institute March 2, 1998.
Deltito, J.; Beyer, D. The scientific. quasi-scientific and popular literature of the use of St. John's wort in the treatment of depression. J. Affect. Disord. 51:245–251; 1998.
Desjardins, Y. C.; Hdider, C.; De Riek, J. Carbon nutrition in vitro. In: Aitken-Christie, J.; Kozai, T.; Smith, M. A. L., eds. Automation and environmental control in plant tissue culture. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1995:441–471.
Evans, M. F.; Morgenstern, K. St John's wort: an herbal remedy for depression? Can. Fam. Physician 43:1735–1736; 1997.
Fujiwara, K.; Kozai, T.; Watanabe, I. Tundamental studies on environments in plant tissue culture vessels. (3) Measurements of carbon dioxide gas concentration in closed vessels containing tissue cultured plantlets and estimates on net photosynthetic rate of the plantlets. J. Agr. Meteorol. 43(1):21–30; 1987 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Grout, B. W. W.; Aston, M. J. Transplanting cauliflower plants regenerated from meristem culfure II Carbon dioxide fixation and the development of photosynthetic ability. Hortic. Res. 17:65–71; 1978.
Hayashi, M.; Lee, Kozai, T. Photoautotrophic micropropagation of rose plantlets under CO2 enriched conditions. SHITA J 4(2): 107–110; 1993.
Kozai, T.; Afreen, F.; Zobayed, S. M. A. Photoautotrophic (sugar-free medium) micropropagation as a new propagation and transplant production system. Dordrecht. The Netherlands: Springer, 2005:1–315.
Kozai, T.; Fujiwara, K.; Watanabe, I. Fundamental studies of environments in plant tissue culture vessels. (2) Effects of stoppers and vessels on gas exchange rates between insider and outside of vessels closed with stoppers. J. Agric. Meteorol. 42:119–127; 1986 (in Japanese with English abstract)
Kozai, T.; Iwabuchi, K.; Watanabe, K.; Watanabe, I. Photoautotrophic and photomixotrophic growth of strawberry plantlets in vitro and changes in nutrient composition of the medium. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult. 25:107–115; 1991.
Kozai, T.; Takazawa, A.; Watanabe, I.; Sugi, J. Growth of tobacco seedlings and plantlets in vitro as affected by in vitro environment. Environ. Control Biol. 28(2):31–39; 1990 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Miller, A. L. St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum): clinical effects on depression and other conditions. Altern. Med. Rev. 3:18–26; 1998.
Murashige, T.; Skoog, F. A. Revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol. Plant. 15:473–497; 1962.
Murch, S. J.; Choffe, K. L.; Victor, J. M. R.; Slimmon, T. Y.; Krishma Raj, S.; Saxena, P. K. Thidiazuron-induced plant regeneration from hypocotyls cultures of St. John's wort plants (Hypericum perforatum cv. “Anthos”). Plant Cell Rep. 19:576–581; 2000.
Nahrstedt, A.: Butterweck, L. Biologically active and other chemical constitutents of the herb of Hypericum perforatum L. Pharmakopsychiatry 30:129–134; 1997.
Nakayama, M.; Kozai, T.; Watanabe, K. Effect of the presence/absence of sugar in the medium and natural/forced ventilation on the net photosynthetic rates of potato explants in vitro. Plant Tissue Cult. Lett. 8(2):105–109; 1991 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Nguyen, Q. T.; Kozai, T.; Nguyen, U. V. Effects of sucrose concentration, supporting materials and number of air exchanges of the vessel on the growth of in vitro coffee plants. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult. 58:51–57; 1999.
Orth, H. C.; Rentel, C.; Schmidt, P. C. Isolation, purity analysis and stability of hyperforin as a standard material from Hypericum perforatum L. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 51:193–200; 1999.
Porra, R. J.; Thompson, W. A.; Kriedemann, P. E. Determination of accurate extinction coefficients and simultaneous equations for assaying chlorophylls a and b extracted with four different solvents: verification of the concentration of chlorophyll standards by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 975:185–394; 1989.
Pretto, F. R.; Santarem, E. R. Callus formation and plant regeneration from Hypericum perforatum leaves. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult. 62:107–113; 2000.
Schempp, C. M.; Krikin, V.; Simon-Haarhaus, G.; Kersten, A.; Kiss, J.; Termeer, C. C.; Gilb, B.; Kaufmann, T.; Borner, C.; Sleeman, J. P.; Simon, J. C. Inhibition of tumor cell growth by hyperorin, a novel anticancer drug from St. John's wort that acts by induction of apoptosis. Oucogene 21:1242–1250; 2002.
Ziv, M. Vitrification: morphological and physilogical disotders of in vitro plants. In: Debergh, P. C.; Zimmerman, R. H. eds. Micropropagation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publihsers; 1991:46–49.
Zobayed, S. M. A.; Afreen-Zobayed, F.; Kubota, C.; Kozai, T. Stomatal characteristics and leaf anatomy of potato plantlets cultured in vitro under photoautotrophic and photomixotrophic conditions. In Vitro Cell Dev. Biol.-Plant 35:183–188; 1999.
Zobayed, S. M. A.; Saxena, P. K. Production of St. John's wort plants under controlled environment for maximizing biomass and secondary metabolites. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. Plant 40:108–114; 2004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Couceiro, M.A., Afreen, F., Zobayed, S.M.A. et al. Enhanced growth and quality of St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum l.) under photoautotrophic in vitro conditions. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 42, 278–282 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1079/IVP2006752
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1079/IVP2006752