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Gene expression analysis of the withanolide biosynthetic pathway in hairy root cultures of Withania somnifera elicited with methyl jasmonate and the fungus Piriformospora indica

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Abstract

Withania somnifera, also known as Indian ginseng is known to contain valuable bioactive compounds, called withanolides that structurally resemble ginsenosides of Panax ginseng. These compounds provide the basis of pharmacological relevance in traditional systems of medicine. In the present study, 150 hairy root lines of W. somnifera were induced of which nine fast growing lines were analysed for their growth and withanolide content. Hairy root line W9 was selected due to its high specific growth rate (0.196 ± 0.005 d−1) and high withanolide content. The response to different concentrations of elicitors (methyl jasmonate and P. indica cell homogenate) and various exposure durations was assessed in the W9 hairy root line. The withanolide content as well as the pattern of gene expression from MVA, MEP and sterol pathway, was evaluated using qPCR. Though gene expression and withanolide content were found to be elevated in almost all MeJ and CHP treatments, the exposure of hairy roots to 15 μM MeJ for 4 h gave the maximum withanolide yield. The results suggest that the elicitation potential of methyl jasmonate was higher than that of P. indica cell homogenate for increasing withanolide levels in hairy roots of W. somnifera.

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Abbreviations

DW:

Dry weight

FW:

Fresh Weight

WHO:

World Health Organization

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

MVA:

Mevalonate pathway

MEP:

Methyl erythreitol pathway

MeJ:

Methyl jasmonate

qPCR:

quantitative polymerase chain reaction

CHP:

P. indica cell homogenate.

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Acknowledgments

The research facilities developed from UGC-SAP (DRS-1) grant sanctioned to the Department of Biotechnology by University Grants Commission, Government of India and the senior research fellowship to PS under DRDO project DLS/81/48222/LSRB-207/SH&DD/2010, are gratefully acknowledged. SA is thankful to Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing WoS-A Fellowship. The authors thankfully acknowledge Dr. S. Banerjee, Chief Scientist, Plant Tissue Culture Division, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India for her valuable guidance in hairy root induction experiments.

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  1. Centre for Transgenic Plant Development, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India

    Parul Saxena, Seema Ahlawat, Athar Ali, Shazia Khan & Malik Zainul Abdin

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  1. Parul Saxena
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  2. Seema Ahlawat
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Correspondence to Malik Zainul Abdin.

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Saxena, P., Ahlawat, S., Ali, A. et al. Gene expression analysis of the withanolide biosynthetic pathway in hairy root cultures of Withania somnifera elicited with methyl jasmonate and the fungus Piriformospora indica . Symbiosis 71, 143–154 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-016-0416-9

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