Enhanced catharanthine production in catharanthus roseus cell cultures by combined elicitor treatment in shake flasks and bioreactors

Chemical and fungal elicitors were added to Catharanthus roseus cell suspension cultures so as to improve the production of indole alkaloids. A synergistic effect on alkaloid accumulation was observed in C. roseus cell cultures when treated with some combined elicitors of fungal preparations and chemicals. Among them, the combination of tetramethyl amminium bromide and Aspergillum niger mycelial homogenate gave the highest ajmalicine yield (63 mg l(-1)) and an improved catharanthine accumulation (17 mg l(-1)). The combined elicitors of malate and sodium alginate resulted in the highest catharanthine yield (26 mg l(-1)) and a high ajmalicine accumulation (41 mg l(-1)) in the cell cultures. Based on the synergistic effect of malate and sodium alginate, a process with enhanced catharanthine production in Catharanthus roseus cell cultures was developed in shake flasks and a bioreactor. After 10 days of culture, 25 mg l(-1), 32 mg l(-1) and 22 mg l(-1) catharanthine yield were obtained in 500-ml flasks, 1000-ml flasks and in a 20-l airlift bioreactor, respectively. Upon malate-alginate combining treatments, peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities decreased in elicited cells but phenylalanine ammonia lyase and lipoxygenase activities increased dramatically. That suggests a typical defense responses took place in the combined elicitors-treated cell cultures. Furthermore, the combined elicitors also caused a significant increase of malondialdehyde level in cell cultures, which suggests a serious lipid peroxidation occurred in the elicited cell cultures. Comparison of these results suggests that malate and alginate combining treatment also stimulates defense responses, such as lipid peroxidation, in all C. roseus culture processes and this may mediate the indole alkaloid production via jasmonate pathway.     

Selection of fungal elicitors to increase indole alkaloid accumulation in catharanthus roseus suspension cell culture

Various fungal elicitors derived from 12 fungi were tested to improve indole alkaloid production in Catharanthus roseus cell suspension cultures. Results show that different fungal mycelium homogenates stimulate different kinds of indole alkaloid (ajmalicine, serpentine and catharanthine) accumulation, which ranged from 2- to 5-fold higher than the control. Some fungal culture filtrates also efficiently elicited the biosynthesis of different indole alkaloids. The optimal elicitor addition and exposure time for the maximal alkaloid production were on day 7 after subculture and for 3 days of treatment but different fungal elicitors showed the different optimal treatment dosages. Additions of elicitor at the doses ranging from 5 mg/l to 30 mg/l of carbon hydrate equivalent resulted in varieous amounts and kinds of indole alkaloid accumulation. Exposed to a same fungal elicitor, several different cell lines generated the different responses regarding as growth rate, culture color and alkaloid production.     

真菌诱导子对青蒿发根细胞生长和青蒿素积累的影响

３种真菌诱导子（大菌丽花轮枝孢（Ｖｅｒｔｉｃｉｌｌｉｕｍ ｄａｈｉａｅ Ｋｌｅｂ．）、葡枝根霉（Ｒｈｉｚｏｐｕｓ ｓｔｏｌｏｎｉｆｅｒ（Ｅｈｒｅｎｂ．ｅｘＦｒ．）Ｖｕｉｌｌ）和束状刺盘孢（Ｃｏｌｌｅｔｏｒｉｃｈｕｍ ｄｅｍａｔｉｕｍ（Ｐｅｒｓ．）Ｇｒｏｖｅ）处理青蒿（Ａｒｔｅｍｉｓｉａ ａｎｎｕａＬ．）的发根,均能促进发根中青蒿素的积累,其中以大丽花轮枝孢的诱导效果最好;对细胞生长均没有明显影响,     

Elicitation of lignin biosynthesis and isoperoxidase activity by pectic fragments in suspension cultures of castor bean

Suspension cultures of castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) which have been treated with pectic fragment elicitor rapidly accumulate lignin as measured by derivatization with thioglycolic acid. The responsiveness of cultured cells to elicitor is dependent on the stage of culture growth. In 6-day (maximally responsive) cultures, increases in lignin are first evident 3 hours after addition of pectic fragment elicitor with maximal rates of lignin synthesis between 4 and 10 hours. The abundance of lignin in cultures after 12 hours of elicitor treatment is 10- to 20-fold higher than in untreated control cultures and can thereby account for as much as 2% of the dry cell weight. Only intermediate sizes of pectic oligomer are active as elicitors of lignin. Half-maximal accumulation of lignin occurs at 250 to 300 micrograms per milliliter of an optimal elicitor preparation with an average degree of polymerization of seven. We consider the synthesis of lignin in elicited cultures to be a mechanism of plant disease resistance which is induced by the elicitor. Plant peroxidases have been proposed to catalyze the last enzymatic steps in the biosynthesis of both lignin and hydrogen peroxide. Six extracellular isoenzymes of peroxidase (two anionic, designated A1 and A2, and four cationic, designated C2, C3, C4, and C7) are detectable in healthy suspension cultures of castor bean by native gel electrophoresis. Treatment of cultures with elicitor causes substantial changes in the activity of four of these species (A1, C2, C3, and C7). Elicitor treatment also results in the appearance of three new peroxidase isoenzymes that are not readily detectable in healthy cultures (C1, C5, and C6). Increases in the activities of these isoenzymes are concurrent with or slightly precede the accumulation of lignin in elicited 6-day cultures. By 12 hours after addition of elicitor, C1 becomes the most abundant extracellular isoperoxidase. The differential regulation of expression of peroxidase isoenzymes following elicitor treatment suggests that individual isoenzymes of peroxidase may have specific functional roles in the biosynthesis of disease-lignin.     

Studies on production of ajmalicine in shake flasks by multiple shoot cultures of Catharanthus roseus

The effects of different concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and benzyladenine (BA) on production of ajmalicine by multiple shoot cultures of Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus) were studied. By supplementing Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium with a high concentration of IAA (11.42 microM) and a low concentration of BA (2.22 microM), shoot cultures accumulated high levels of ajmalicine. When culture medium was fortified with a low concentration of IAA (2.85 microM) and a high concentration of BA (8.90 microM), shoots released high levels of ajmalicine into the culture medium. Quantification of ajmalicine was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The highest concentration of ajmalicine production (0.166% dry wt) was obtained by shoot cultures grown in MS medium containing IAA (11.42 microM) on 20 days of cultivation. Shoot cultures accumulated ajmalicine 4.2-fold more in IAA (11.42 microM) supplemented medium compared with the high concentration of BA (8.90 microM). The content of ajmalicine concentration in the medium was quantified. Shoot cultures grown in BA (8.90 microM) supplemented medium released the maximum production of ajmalicine (0.853 g/L) into the culture medium after 15 days of cultivation. The experimental data show that the secretion of ajmalicine was 2-fold more into the culture medium supplemented with a high concentration of BA compared to that with a low concentration of BA. Data presented here show that production of ajmalicine by shoot cultures is not correlated with growth rate. Dimeric indole alkaloids vincristine and vinblastine were not present in shoot cultures. Ajmalicine production by shoot cultures was 2.4-fold higher compared to leaves of 1-year-old naturally grown plants.     

Elicitor enhanced production of protoberberine alkaloids from in vitro cell suspension cultures of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tinospora cordifolia</Emphasis> (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. F. &amp; Thoms

The present research investigates the effect of Piriformospora indica, an endophytic fungus, on production of protoberberine alkaloids in in vitro cell suspension cultures of Tinospora cordifolia. Although T. cordifolia produces a number of protoberberine alkaloids, the simultaneous production of jatrorrhizine and palmatine in cell suspension cultures of T. cordifolia was observed for the first time with the use of P. indica as biotic elicitor. The cells in suspension cultures were elicitated with P. indica on 14th day of culture initiation and the production of the alkaloids on 16th day was monitored. The autoclaved as well as filter sterilized cultures of P. indica were used in addition to the use of fungal cell extract. The elicitor effect of P. indica was analyzed and compared with other abiotic elicitor (methyl jasmonate) and biotic elicitors (chitin and chitosan). The culture filtrate of P. indica in the filter sterilized (5.0% v/v) form gave better response with enhanced 4.2-fold production of jatrorrhizine (10.72 mg/g DW) and 4.0-fold production of palmatine (4.39 mg/g DW). The production of these compounds was at par with that achieved in methyl jasmonate (at 250 µM) treated cell suspension cultures.     

Effects of Fungal Elicitors on Cell Growth and Artemisinin Accumulation in Hairy Root Cultures of Artemisia annua

The artemisinin accumulation in the hairy root cultures of Artemisia annua L. was enhanced via a treatment of three fungal elicitors separately ( Verticillium dahliae Kleb., Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb. ex Fr. ) Vuill and Colletotrichum dematium (Pers.) Grove). Among these three elicitors, V. dahliae had the highest inducing efficiency, but none of them manifests any noticeable effects on the cell growth of the hairy root cultures. The artemisinin content of the hairy root cultures treated with V. dahliae elicitor was 1.12 mg/g DW, which was 45% higher than the control (0.77 mg/g DW). The results showed that elicitation was dependent on the elicitor concentration, the incubation period and the physiological stage at which the hairy root cultures were treated. In addition, the authors found that for V. dahliae, the optimum concentration was 0.4 mg carbohydrate per millilitre medium, the strongest response of A. annua hairy root cultures to the elicitation was at the late exponential growth stage, and the highest artemisinin content of the hairy root cultures was on the 4th day post treatment.     

Accumulation of 2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone in suspension cultures of Panax ginseng by a fungal elicitor preparation and a yeast elicitor preparation

Suspension cultures of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Araliaceae) were treated with either an elicitor preparation from the culture broth of the phytopathogenic hyphomycete Botrytis cinerea or a yeast elicitor preparation, and the accumulation of a new compound, which was not detected in non-elicited cultures, was observed. The accumulated compound was isolated and shown to be 2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and electron ionization (EI) mass spectra. While it is well known that this compound shows antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, its presence in ginseng root has not been reported to date. Levels of the compound in the media increased rapidly, reaching a maximum level of 65.10 +/- 4.96 microg/g fresh weight at approximately 12 h after treatment with the yeast elicitor preparation. The maximal level of the compound in medium from the culture treated with an elicitor preparation from the culture broth of B. cinerea was 46.13 +/- 10.42 microg/g fresh weight after 24 h of incubation.     

Statistical analysis of elicitation strategies for thiarubrine A production in hairy root cultures of Ambrosia artemisiifolia

Elicitation strategies were studied for yield enhancement of thiarubrine A, a secondary metabolite and a potential pharmaceutical, produced by hairy root cultures of Ambrosia artemisiifolia. Abiotic elicitation was performed using vanadyl sulfate solution and biotic elicitation using autoclaved cell wall filtrates of the fungi Protomyces gravidus, a pathogen of A. artemisiifolia and Botrytis cinereae. The factors considered were age of the culture, concentration of the elicitor used and the time period of exposure or contact. Statistical methods were used to determine the strength of the interaction between the various factors and their response on the yield of the secondary metabolite. The maximum increase in the yield relative to the control, 8-fold corresponding to 569 microg g(-1) of biomass, was observed when 16-day-old cultures were elicited with 50 mg l(-1) of vanadyl sulfate for a time period of 72 h. The maximum yield of 647 microg g(-1) was achieved when the cultures were exposed to 5 microM autoclaved cell wall filtrates of P. gravidus for a time period of 48 h. The yield increase was 3-fold in the case of elicitation with autoclaved cell wall filtrates of B. cinereae. The methodology used in this report can be extended to determine the optimum conditions of other elicitors.     

The effect of inoculum density and conditioned medium on the production of ajmalicine and catharanthine from immobilized Catharanthus roseus cells

The effect of the cell-inoculum size and the addition of conditioned medium on ajmalicine and catharanthine production were studied using immobilized Catharanthus roseus cells. Higher specific-uptake rates of ammonium, nitrate, and sugars were observed in the low-inoculum-density cultures (50 g FW/L) compared to the high-inoculum-density cultures (100 g FW/L). Alkaloid production was not correlated with the exhaustion of a particular nutrient from the medium. The high-inoculum-density cultures produced higher ajmalicine concentrations throughout the experiment. Catharanthine production was similar between the two inoculum-density cultures. The addition of conditioned medium to MS-production medium dramatically improved the production of ajmalicine and catharanthine. The addition of conditioned medium enhanced ajmalicine production from immobilized Catharanthus roseus cultures on day 15 by at least two- to fourfold compared to media without the conditioning factors. Catharanthine production was increased by nearly fivefold in cultures with conditioned medium compared to those without conditioned medium. The enhancing effects of conditioned medium on alkaloid production were attributed to an unidentified factor produced and secreted by suspension cultures of C. roseus. The presence of conditioned medium also decreased the sucrose hydrolysis rate. The ajmalicine concentration in these immobilized cell cultures was found to be a function of the fresh-weight concentration, irrespective of the inoculum density or the culture medium. The medium choice and the inoculum density determined how rapidly fresh weight was accumulated and thus, how quickly ajmalicine was produced. Ajmalicine production correlated positively with fresh-weight concentration, but catharanthine production was not correlated with fresh-weight concentration.     

Gallotannin hydrolysis by immobilized fungal mycelia in a packed bed bioreactor.

Hydrolysis of gallotannin to gallic acid by immobilized mycelia of Aspergillus niger MTCC 282, Aspergillus fischerii MTCC 150, Fusarium solani MTCC 350 and Trichoderma viride MTCC 167 in a packed bed bioreactor was studied. Fungal mycelia preinduced with 5 g L-1 gallotannin were immobilized in calcium alginate gel (1.5%) and the resultant beads were packed in a column to a bed volume of 175 mm3. Gallotannin dissolved in distilled water was passed through the column and the eluate was recycled after adjusting pH to 6 with ammonium hydroxide (10%). Maximum hydrolysis of gallotannin was recorded by immobilized mycelia of F. solani and T. viride at 35 degrees and 45 degrees C after 175 and 60 min of residency period respectively. Optimum substrate concentration required for maximum hydrolysis was 10 g L-1 at pH 5 for both the fungi. Immobilized mycelia of A. niger and A. fischerii revealed maximum operational stability. Loss of activity after eighth run was in the order of-A. niger (no loss), A. fischerii (7.5%), F. solani (18%) and T. viride (18%). Stability in terms of retention of enzyme activity after 150 days of storage at 4 degrees C was A. niger (58%), A. fischerii (26.8%), F. solani (83%) and T. viride (85.1%).     

Hydrogen peroxide from the oxidative burst is not involved in the induction of taxol biosynthesis in Taxus chinensis cells

In cell suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis, 40 mg/l fungal elicitor from Aspergillus niger and 20 microM HgCl2 elicited 5.7 and 3.6 mg/l taxol, which was a 9-fold and 5-fold increase vs. compared with the control, respectively. The fungal elicitor induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation but HgCl2 did not, indicating that H2O2 was not necessary for enhancement of taxol induced by elicitor. Compared with the treatment with fungal elicitor alone, exogenous catalase, ascorbic acid, diphenylene iodonium and superoxide dismutase induced a 0.45, 0.4, 0.7 and 1.4-fold H2O2, but elicited taxol production, which was 0.98, 1.2, 1.1 and 0.9-fold, respectively, vs. non-treated cells Elicitor-induced taxol production was not accorded with the amount of H2O2 production.     

Enhanced ajmalicine production in Catharanthus roseus cell cultures by combined elicitor treatment: from shake-flask to 20-l airlift bioreactor

A two-stage process for enhanced ajmalicine production in elicited Catharanthus roseus cell cultures was developed in shake-flasks and a bioreactor. By using combined elicitor treatment of an Aspergillum niger mycelium and tetramethyl ammonium bromide, yields of ajmalicine were 48 mg l^–1, 52 mg l^–1 and 33 mg l^–1, respectively in 500-ml flasks, 1000-ml flasks and a 20-l airlift bioreactor. The peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities decreased in elicited cell cultures but catalase and lipoxygenase activities increased in these cultures. The combined elicitor treatment also caused a significant increase of malondialdehyde content in cell cultures.     

Stimulation of anthocyanin synthesis in grape (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vitis vinifera</Emphasis>) cell cultures by pulsed electric fields and ethephon

Anthocyanin from grape cell cultures can be used as a natural alternative to synthetic dyes; particularly due to their reported health-promoting properties. In this study, production of anthocyanin in cell suspension culture of Vitis vinifera was evaluated following treatment with either ethephon and/or pulsed electric fields (PEF). Overall, total production of anthocyanin increased in treated cells compared to untreated cells. Treatment of cell suspension with PEF at day 14 of culture resulted in 1.7-fold increase (1.42 mg/g DW) in anthocyanin content when compared to control cells; while, treatment with ethephon resulted in 2.3-fold increase (1.99 mg/g DW) in anthocyanin content. When cells were treated with both ethephon and PEF, 2.5-fold increase in anthocyanin content (2.2 mg/g DW) was observed. These findings demonstrate that PEF induces a defense response in plant cells, and it may also alter the dielectric properties of cells and/or cell membranes, and would serve as a viable elicitor of secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures.     

Stimulation of ajmalicine production and excretion from Catharanthus roseus: effects of adsorption in situ,elicitors and alginate immobilization

Summary More efficient bioreactors for the production and recovery of secondary metabolites from plant cell cultures are needed. Three factors that have the potential to increase productivity are adsorption in situ, elicitors, and cell immobilization. The effects of these factors on ajmalicine production from Catharanthus roseus are reported in this paper. Elicitation using autoclaved cultures of the mold, Phytophthora cactorum, stimulates a 60% increase in ajmalicine production. The response time to elicitor addition was under 11 h. Adsorption of ajmalicine from the extracellular medium with the neutral resin, Amberlite XAD-7, greatly enhanced the release of ajmalicine (less than 10% extracellular to 40%) with a 40% increase in total productivity. Immobilization in Caalginate beads resulted in a significant increase in the accumulation of ajmalicine in the medium. The effects of elicitation, adsorption and immobilization were synergistic. For a 23-day culture period the amount of ajmalicine in the medium for cells subjected to all three treatments was 90 mg/L compared to 2 mg/L for suspension cultures cultured under otherwise identical conditions. These results suggest that immobilized cell bioreactors may be feasible for continuous production of products normally stored intracellularly in vacuoles in plant cells.     

Transient studies of nutrient uptake, growth, and indole alkaloid accumulation in heterotrophic cultures of hairy roots of Catharanthus roseus

The kinetics of growth, the uptake of macronutrients, and the accumulation of indole alkaloids were investigated in long-term, heterotrophically cultured transgenic ("hairy") roots of Catharanthus roseus.Tabersonine, ajmalicine, and serpentine were monitored over a 70-day period. The doubling time [dry-weight (DW) basis] of C. roseus hairy roots in B5/2 nutrients supplemented with 3% sucrose was 3.6 days. NH(4) (+), NO(3),(-) and P(i) were depleted sequentially from culture medium by hairy roots, while sugars remained undepleted. The growth-limiting nutrient was inorganic nitrogen, NH(4) (+) and NO(3) (-), with exponential-phase overall biomass yields of 34.1 and 5.0 g DW/g nutrient, respectively. Extracellular pH decreased to 4.8 in early exponential phase of culture growth from the initially adjusted value of 5.7, increased subsequently to a maximum of 7.7 in late exponential phase of growth coincident with the maximum of fresh weight (FW)/DW ratio, before decreasing to 5.5-5.0. The organic acids, pyruvate, formate, lactate, and succinate were excreted by hairy roots starting in late phase of exponential growth, possibly resulting in the late-culture pH decrease. Tabersonine accumulation was distinctly growth associated with maximum specific and total yields of 1.15 mg/g DW and 5.6 mg/L, respectively, in late-exponential phase of growth. Serpentine accumulation was non growth associated with increasing specific and total levels in stationary growth phase: 1.3 mg/g DW and 10.5 mg/L, respectively. The accumulation of ajmalicine also appeared growth associated. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 55: 527-534, 1997.     

The role of glucose in ajmalicine production by catharanthus roseus cell cultures

The role of glucose in ajmalicine production by Catharanthus roseus was investigated in the second stage of a two-stage batch process. Activities of tryptophan decar-boxylate (TDC) and anthranilate synthase (AS), two enzymes In the pathway leading to ajmalicine, were higher after induction with 40 g/L glucose than after induction with 60 or 80 g/L glucose. Experiments with different media containing mixtures of glucose and the nonpermeating osmotic agent xylose, and using an already induced culture as inoculum, revealed that a minimum amount of glucose is required to support ajmalicine production after enzyme induction. This requirement was not an osmotic effect. The relation between the glucose concentration and the specific ajmalicine production rate, q(p), was investigated in seven (fed-)batch cultures with constant glucose concentrations: 23, 29, 35, 53, 57, 75, and 98 g/L. In the cultures with a low glucose concentration (23, 29, and 35 g/L) the q(p) was 2.7-times higher than the cultures with 53 and 57 g/L, and almost six times higher than the cultures with a high glucose concentration (75 and 98 g/L). A glucose perturbation experiment (from 53 to 32 g/L) demonstrated that the ajmalicine production rate was adjusted without much delay. A kinetic equation is proposed for the relationship between the glucose concentration and q(p). Differences in enzyme induction and ajmalicine production at different glucose levels could not be explained by the intracellular concentrations of glucose, fructose, sucrose, or starch. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons Inc.     

Influences of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on growth and secondary metabolite accumulation in Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer adventitious roots cultured in air-lift bioreactors

The present study relates to different polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which were used as elicitors to enhance biomass accumulation and ginsenoside production in Panax ginseng. Adventitious root cultures of ginseng were elicited with oleic and linolenic acid at 0, 1, 5, 10 or 50 µmol/l concentrations respectively. Elicitors were added to the medium of adventitious roots on the 40th day of culture and roots were harvested on day 47. Cultures supplemented with oleic acid decreased root biomass and ginsenoside accumulation. Cultures supplemented with 1 µmol/l linolenic acid enhanced ginsenoside accumulation, without the decrease of adventitious root biomass. Linolenic acid enhanced the biosynthesis of both protopanxatriols (2.95 ± 0.048 mg/g DW) and protopanxadiols (5.66 ± 0.043 mg/g DW) compared to that of control at (1.41 ± 0.002 mg/g DW) and (1.58 ± 0.006 mg/g DW) respectively. No changes in polysaccharides and phenolics content have been noticed upon elicitation with PUFAs. This is the first report on linolenic acid as an elicitor for ginsenoside accumulation in ginseng adventitious root cultures.     

Biotic elicitor enhanced production of psoralen in suspension cultures of Psoralea corylifolia L.

Cell cultures of Psoralea corylifolia L. were established from the leaf disk derived callus. The effect of different biotic elicitors prepared from the fungal extract (Aspergillus niger and Penicillium notatum), yeast extract and chitosan with different concentrations was studied. The increased synthesis of psoralen in 16-day old cell cultures under 16 h of light and 8 h of dark period was studied. Elicitation of psoralen in A. niger elicitor treated cells was found 9-fold higher over control cells. Treating the cells with P. notatum, yeast extract and chitosan elicitors lead to four to seven-fold higher psoralen accumulation over control cells. The extract of A. niger at 1.0% v/v increased the significant accumulation of psoralen (9850 μg/g DCW) in the cultured cells. Our study clearly shows that all the elicitors had the potential to increase the accumulation of psoralen but the A. niger elicitor at 1.0% v/v induced maximum accumulation.