Efficient production and recovery of diterpenoid tanshinones in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures with in situ adsorption, elicitation and semi-continuous operation

In Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures, the desired secondary metabolites diterpenoid tanshinones are normally produced at low yields and stored within the roots. To enhance tanshinone production and the secondary product recovery, we employed three means, elicitation with a yeast elicitor (YE), in situ adsorption of tanshinones with a hydrophobic polymeric resin (X-5) and semi-continuous mode of operation. YE treatment stimulated the tanshinone biosynthesis, increasing the total tanshinone (TT) content of root by about two-fold, from 0.46 to 1.37 mg/g dry weight (dw) (TT content=total content of three major tanshinones, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone I and tanshinone IIA). The addition of X-5 resins to the culture only increased the tanshinone yield slightly, but recovered more than 80% of tanshinones from the roots. With the application of a semi-continuous culture process involving repeated medium renewal, elicitor addition and resin replacement, starting at the late exponential growth phase, the root biomass was increased to 30.5g dw/l (versus 8-10g dw/l in batch mode) and the volumetric tanshinone yield to 87.5mg/l (about 15-fold increase), with 76.5% adsorbed to the resin. The volumetric productivity of total tanshinone reached 1.46 mg/lday, more than 7.4 times that of the batch culture. The results demonstrate that the integration of multiple elicitation, in situ adsorption and semi-continuous operation can synergistically enhance tanshinone production in S. miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures.     

Ultrahigh diterpenoid tanshinone production through repeated osmotic stress and elicitor stimulation in fed-batch culture of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salvia miltiorrhiza</Emphasis> hairy roots

Hyperosmotic stress (OS, created with 50 g/L sorbitol) and a yeast elicitor (YE, polysaccharide fraction of yeast extract) applied to Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root cultures had a synergistic effect on the diterpenoid tanshinone production. With a single OS+YE treatment and nutrient feeding, the total tanshinone content of roots was increased by sevenfold (from 0.2 to 1.6 mg/g dry weight (dw)) and the volumetric yield by 13-fold (from 1.95 to 27.4 mg/L) compared to the batch control culture. With repeated feeding of OS and nutrient medium in an extended fed-batch culture process (i.e., 10 mL fresh medium with 50 g/L sorbitol 25 mg/L YE, every 5 days from day 21 to day 60), the total tanshinone content of roots was increased to 18.1 mg/g dw (or 1.8 wt.%) and the volumetric tanshinone yield to 145 mg/L, which were about 100-fold and 70-fold of those, respectively, in the batch control. Another interesting finding was the presence of root fragments (fine particles) with extremely high tanshinone content in the OS+YE treated cultures. It was also possible to reuse the sorbitol medium for the hairy root growth and tanshinone production to reduce the medium expenses.     

Increased accumulation of the cardio-cerebrovascular disease treatment drug tanshinone in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy roots by the enzymes 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase and 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase

Tanshinone is widely used for treatment of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases with increasing demand. Herein, key enzyme genes SmHMGR (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase) and SmDXR (1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase) involved in the tanshinone biosynthetic pathway were introduced into Salvia miltiorrhiza (Sm) hairy roots to enhance tanshinone production. Over-expression of SmHMGR or SmDXR in hairy root lines can significantly enhance the yield of tanshinone. Transgenic hairy root lines co-expressing HMGR and DXR (HD lines) produced evidently higher levels of total tanshinone (TT) compared with the control and single gene transformed lines. The highest tanshinone production was observed in HD42 with the concentration of 3.25 mg g^?1 DW. Furthermore, the transgenic hairy roots showed higher antioxidant activity than control. In addition, transgenic hairy root harboring HMGR and DXR (HD42) exhibited higher tanshinone content after elicitation by yeast extract and/or Ag⁺ than before. Tanshinone can be significantly enhanced to 5.858, 6.716, and 4.426 mg g^?1 DW by YE, Ag⁺, and YE-Ag⁺ treatment compared with non-induced HD42, respectively. The content of cryptotanshinone and dihydrotanshinone was effectively elevated upon elicitor treatments, whereas there was no obvious promotion effect for the other two compounds tanshinone I and tanshinone IIA. Our results provide a useful strategy to improve tanshinone content as well as other natural active products by combination of genetic engineering with elicitors.     

PEG and ABA trigger methyl jasmonate accumulation to induce the MEP pathway and increase tanshinone production in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy roots

Tanshinones, a group of active ingredients in Salvia miltiorrhiza, are derived from at least two biosynthetic pathways, which are the mevalonate (MVA) pathway in the cytosol and the 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway in the plastids. Abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MJ) are two well-known plant hormones induced by water stress. In this study, effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG), ABA and MJ on tanshinone production in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots were investigated, and the role of MJ in PEG- and ABA-induced tanshinone production was further elucidated. The results showed that tanshinone production was significantly enhanced by treatments with PEG, ABA and MJ. The mRNA levels of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl co-enzyme A reductase (HMGR), 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) and 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS), as well as the enzyme activities of HMGR and DXS were stimulated by all three treatments. PEG and ABA triggered MJ accumulation. Effects of PEG and ABA on tanshinone production were completely abolished by the ABA biosynthesis inhibitor [tungstate (TUN)] and the MJ biosynthesis inhibitor [ibuprofen (IBU)], while effects of MJ were almost unaffected by TUN. In addition, MJ-induced tanshinone production was completely abolished by the MEP pathway inhibitor [fosmidomycin (FOS)], but was just partially arrested by the MVA pathway inhibitor [mevinolin (MEV)]. In conclusion, a signal transduction model was proposed that exogenous applications of PEG and ABA triggered endogenous MJ accumulation by activating ABA signaling pathway to stimulate tanshinone production, while exogenous MJ could directly induce tanshinone production mainly via the MEP pathway in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots.     

The effect of yeast elicitor on the growth and secondary metabolism of hairy root cultures of Salvia miltiorrhiza

Hairy root cultures of Salvia miltiorrhiza transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC 15834 produced a tiny amount of tanshinones and a constituent level of phenolic acids under normal growth conditions. Upon elicitation with yeast elicitor, the production of both phenolic acids and tanshinones was enhanced. For example, the contents of two phenolic acids, rosmarinic acid and lithospermic acid B were elevated from 1.24% and 2.59% to 2.89% and 2.98% of dry wt, respectively while the intracellular content of cryptotanshinone increased from 0.001% to as much as 0.096% of dry wt. Yeast elicitor also improved the growth of hairy roots (from 3.9 g/l to 7.3 g/l on a dry wt basis). Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was developed for simultaneous detection and identification of phenolic acids and tanshinones in the extracts of S. miltiorrhiza. Rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid B, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA and tanshinone IIB were identified by comparison with standards available. Dihydrotanshinone I and methylenetanshiquinone were tentatively identified by the molecular weights and the elution comparable with the literature. An unknown compound with a molecular weight of 280 was found in yeast-elicitor treated hairy root cultures, which was one of the major tanshinones induced.     

青蒿转杜松烯合成酶基因发根系的培养

将已克隆的棉花杜松烯合成酶的ｃＤＮＡ（ｃａｄＣ１４）插入到植物表达载体ｐＢＩ１２１中,构建含ＣａＭＶ３５Ｓ启动子驱动下的杜松烯合成酶基因的植物表达载体ｐＢＩＣ１４。用含ｐＢＩＣ１４质粒的发根农杆菌（Ａｇｒｏｂａｃｔｅｒｉｕｍｒｈｉｚｏｇｅｎｅｓ）１５８３４感染青蒿（ＡｒｔｅｍｉｓｉａａｎｎｕａＬ．）叶片并诱导发根,共建立１２１个生长迅速的发根系。经浓度为２０ｍｇ／Ｌ的Ｋａｎ筛选,获得１２个抗Ｋａｎ阳性根系。ＰＣＲ和Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎｂｌｏｔｉｎｇ分析表明,外源杜松烯合成酶基因已整合到青蒿基因组中,其转基因频率为３％。ＲＴＰＣＲ分析表明,外源杜松烯合成酶基因在Ｃ３７根系中,在转录水平上已有表达。     

Ri-mediated Transformation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Glycyrrhiza uralensis</Emphasis> with a Squalene Synthase Gene (GuSQS1) for Production of Glycyrrhizin

Root of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, one of the most important medicinal plants, containing bioactive triterpene saponins (glycyrrhizin). Squalene synthase (SQS) plays a regulatory role in the biosynthesis of triterpene saponins. In the present investigation, SQS coding sequence from G. uralensis was cloned by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a transgenic system was developed for G. uralensis through Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation. The SQS gene placed under a CaMV 35S promoter was transferred into G. uralensis using A. rhizogenes strain ACCC10060. The transformed hairy roots were selected on Murashige and Skoog (1962)-containing phosphinothricin (PPT) and root lines were established. The integration of SQS gene was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot. Three transgenic root lines UP1, UP24, UP31 were obtained and their growth rates were detected. The result showed that transgenic root lines but UP1 line grew faster than control hairy roots; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis demonstrated the highest glycyrrhizin content of transgenic roots was 2.5 mg/g dry weight and was about 2.6 times higher than control hairy roots. The nucleotide sequences GuSQS1 and GUSQS2 reported in this paper appear in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database with the accession number AM182329 and AM182330, respectively.     

Enhanced Accumulation of Betulinic Acid in Transgenic Hairy Roots of Senna obtusifolia Growing in the Sprinkle Bioreactor and Evaluation of Their Biological Properties in Various Biological Models

Betulinic acid, which is found in transgenic roots of Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, is a pentacyclic triterpene with distinctive pharmacological activities. In this study, we report the differences in the content of betulinic acid and selected anthraquinones in transgenic S. obtusifolia hairy roots with overexpression of the PgSS1 gene (SOPSS2 line) and in transformed hairy roots without this genetic construct (SOA41 line). Both hairy root lines grew in 10 L sprinkle bioreactor. Additionally, the extracts obtained from this plant material were used for biological tests. Our results demonstrated that the SOPSS2 hairy root cultures from the bioreactor showed an increase in the content of betulinic acid (38.125 mg/g DW), compared to the SOA41 hairy root line (4.213 mg/g DW). Biological studies have shown a cytotoxic and antiproliferative effect on U-87MG glioblastoma cells, and altering the level of apoptotic proteins (Bax, p53, Puma and Noxa). Antimicrobial properties were demonstrated for both tested extracts, with a stronger effect of SOPSS2 extract. Moreover, both extracts showed moderate antiviral properties on norovirus surrogates.     

Flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of Artemisia vulgaris L. “hairy” roots

We investigated the effect of Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation on antioxidant activity of Artemisia vulgaris “hairy” roots. It appeared that transformation may increase flavonoid content as well as DPPH-scavenging activity and ability to reduce Fe³⁺ as compared to the non-transformed plants. Some “hairy” roots accumulated flavonoids up to 73.1?±?10.6?mg RE/g DW (while the amount of flavonoids in the leaves of non-transformed plants was up to 49.4?±?5.0?mg RE/g DW). DPPH-scavenging activity of some “hairy” root lines was 3–3.8 times higher than such one of the roots of the control plants. The Fe³⁺-reducing power of most transgenic root extracts exceeded such power of the extracts of the roots of the control plants. The decrease in SOD activity was found in the most “hairy” root lines compared to the control roots. The increase of flavonoid content correlated with the increase of ability of extracts to scavenge DPPH*- radical and Fe³⁺ - reducing power. No correlation between SOD activity of extracts and concentration of flavonoids was found (p?≥?0.2).Thus, transformation has led to the alteration in flavonoid accumulation and antioxidant activity in A. vulgaris “hairy” roots. Transgenic roots with high-antioxidant properties can be selected after A. rhizogenes-mediated transformation.     

Enhanced secondary metabolite (tanshinone) production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salvia miltiorrhiza</Emphasis> hairy roots in a novel root–bacteria coculture process

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Lamiaceae) hairy root cultures were inoculated (at 0.02 and 0.2% v/v) and co-cultured with Bacillus cereus bacteria. The root biomass growth was inhibited significantly by the bacteria inoculated to the root culture on the first day (day 0) but not by the bacteria inoculated on days 14 or 21 (in a 28-day overall period). On the other hand, the growth of the bacteria in the hairy root culture was also strongly inhibited by the hairy roots, partially because of the antibacterial activity of the secondary compounds produced by the roots. Most interestingly, the tanshinone production was promoted by the inoculation of bacteria at any of these days but more significantly by an earlier bacteria inoculation. With 0.2% bacteria inoculated on day 0, for example, the total tanshinone content of roots was increased by more than 12-fold (from 0.20 to 2.67 mg g⁻¹ dry weight), and the volumetric tanshinone yield increased by more than sixfold (from 1.40 to 10.4 mg l⁻¹). The tanshinone production was also stimulated by bacterial water extract and bacterial culture supernatant but less significantly than by the inoculation of live bacteria. The results suggest that the stimulation of tanshinone production by live bacteria in the root cultures may be attributed to the elicitor compounds originating from the bacteria, and the hairy root–bacteria coculture may be an effective strategy for improving secondary metabolite production in plant tissue cultures.     

Production of transgenic Aralia elata regenerated from Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformed roots

Transgenic hairy roots were induced from petiole and root segments of in vitro plant Aralia elata, a medicinal woody shrub, after co-cultivation with A. rhizogenes ATCC 15834. The percentage of putative hairy root induction from root segments was higher (26.7%) than petiole explants (10.0%). Hairy roots showed active production of lateral roots with vigorous elongation. Transgenic plants were regenerated from hairy roots via somatic embryogenesis. These plants had wrinkled leaves, short petioles and numerous lateral hairy roots. The RT-PCR analysis showed the expression of rol A, B, C, D, aux 1 and 2 genes differed between the transgenic lines. Endogenous IAA level was higher in transgenic than non-transgenic plants. Conclusively, transgenic hairy roots were developed for first time in A. elata and the transgenic hairy root lines showed distinct morphological growth pattern and gene expression.     

寡糖素对丹参发根发生和丹参酮合成的影响

从不同来源的真菌材料中制备诱导子,用它们刺激丹参发根,分别研究了不同浓度的串珠镰孢菌寡糖素对发根生长和不同的酵母诱导物对总丹参酮合成的影响。结果表明,除酵母提取液的酒精沉淀物以外,所有的真菌诱导物普遍引起丹参发根根尖不同程度地膨大。另外串珠镰孢菌寡糖素能显著促进发根生长,其中以50ms／L的诱导浓度效果最明显,与对照相比。丹参发根生物量增加了50．46％;酵母诱导物不同程度地促进发根丹参酮的合成,其中以商品酵母粉酒精沉淀物作用最强,确定酵母诱导物对丹参发根的主要有效成分是低聚糖。     

Optimization of induction and culture conditions and tropane alkaloid production in hairy roots of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anisodus acutangulus</Emphasis>

In this study, an efficient transformation system for the medicinal plant Anisodus acutangulus was successfully developed and optimized using Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Three bacterial strains, A4, R1601, and modified C58C1 and three explant types, leaf blade, petiole, and stem, were examined. The highest transformation efficiency of 94.44% was achieved using strain C58C1 with stem explants. Over 20 independent hairy root lines were successfully established with strain C58C1 using stem explants, all of which contained the ro/B and ro/C genes as confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Out of four media compositions, the liquid 1/2 MS medium was found the most suitable for hairy root growth. The maximum biomass of one hairy root line increased up to 80 times in liquid 1/2 MS medium after a 30 day culture period. Different hairy root lines displayed a varied capacity for tropane alkaloid production and the best hairy root line (T4) from the C58C1-stem combination produced up to 10.21 mg/g (dw) of hyoscyamine, which was about 1.5-fold higher than in the wild type plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate the production of tropane alkaloids in hairy roots of A. acutangulus.     

Cloning and characterization of a novel 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase gene from Salvia miltiorrhiza involved in diterpenoid tanshinone accumulation

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate (MVA), which is a rate-limiting step in the isoprenoid biosynthesis via the MVA pathway. In this study, the full-length cDNA encoding HMGR (designated as SmHMGR2, GenBank accession no. FJ747636) was isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The cloned gene was then transformed into the hairy root of S. miltiorrhiza, and the enzyme activity and production of diterpenoid tanshinones and squalene were monitored. The full-length cDNA of SmHMGR2 comprises 1959 bp, with a 1653-bp open reading frame encoding a 550-amino-acid protein. Molecular modeling showed that SmHMGR2 is a new HMGR with a spatial structure similar to other plant HMGRs. SmHMGR2 contains two HMG-CoA-binding motifs and two NADP(H)-binding motifs. The SmHMGR2 catalytic domain can form a homodimer. The deduced protein has an isoelectric point of 6.28 and a calculated molecular weight of approximately 58.67 kDa. Sequence comparison analysis showed that SmHMGR2 had the highest homology to HMGR from Atractylodes lancea. As expected, a phylogenetic tree analysis indicates that SmHMGR2 belongs to plant HMGR group. Tissue expression pattern analysis shows that SmHMGR2 is strongly expressed in the leaves, stem, and roots. Functional complementation of SmHMGR2 in HMGR-deficient mutant yeast JRY2394 demonstrates that SmHMGR2 mediates the MVA biosynthesis in yeasts. Overexpression of SmHMGR2 increased enzyme activity and enhanced the production of tanshinones and squalene in cultured hairy roots of S. miltiorrhiza. Our DNA gel blot analysis has confirmed the presence and integration of the associated SmHMGR2 gene. SmHMGR2 is a novel and important enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of diterpenoid tanshinones in S. miltiorrhiza.     

Overexpression of the Saussurea medusa chalcone isomerase gene in S. involucrata hairy root cultures enhances their biosynthesis of apigenin

Saussurea involucrata is a medicinal plant well known for its flavonoids, including apigenin, which has been shown to significantly inhibit tumorigenesis. Since naturally occurring apigenin is in very low abundance, we took a transgenic approach to increase apigenin production by engineering the flavonoid pathway. A construct was made to contain the complete cDNA sequence of the Saussurea medusa chalcone isomerase (CHI) gene under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. Using an Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation system, the chi overexpression cassette was incorporated into the genome of S. involucrata, and transgenic hairy root lines were established. CHI converts naringenin chalcone into naringenin that is the precursor of apigenin. We observed that transgenic hairy root lines grew faster and produced higher levels of apigenin and total flavonoids than wild-type hairy roots did. Over a culture period of 5 weeks, the best-performing line (C46) accumulated 32.1 mgL(-1) apigenin and 647.8 mgL(-1) total flavonoids, or 12 and 4 times, respectively, higher than wild-type hairy roots did. The enhanced productivity corresponded to elevated CHI activity, confirming the key role that CHI played for total flavonoids and apigenin synthesis and the efficiency of the current metabolic engineering strategy.