Sub-lethal levels of electric current elicit the biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites

Many secondary metabolites that are normally undetectable or in low amounts in healthy plant tissue are synthesized in high amounts in response to microbial infection. Various abiotic and biotic agents have been shown to mimic microorganisms and act as elicitors of the synthesis of these plant compounds. In the present study, sub-lethal levels of electric current are shown to elicit the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in transgenic and non-transgenic plant tissue. The production of the phytoalexin (+)-pisatin by pea was used as the main model system. Non-transgenic pea hairy roots treated with 30-100 mA of electric current produced 13 times higher amounts of (+)-pisatin than did the non-elicited controls. Electrically elicited transgenic pea hairy root cultures blocked at various enzymatic steps in the (+)-pisatin biosynthetic pathway also accumulated intermediates preceding the blocked enzymatic step. Secondary metabolites not usually produced by pea accumulated in some of the transgenic root cultures after electric elicitation due to the diversion of the intermediates into new pathways. The amount of pisatin in the medium bathing the roots of electro-elicited roots of hydroponically cultivated pea plants was 10 times higher 24 h after elicitation than in the medium surrounding the roots of non-elicited control plants, showing not only that the electric current elicited (+)-pisatin biosynthesis but also that the (+)-pisatin was released from the roots. Seedlings, intact roots or cell suspension cultures of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), barrel medic, (Medicago truncatula), Arabidopsis thaliana, red clover (Trifolium pratense) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) also produced increased levels of secondary metabolites in response to electro-elicitation. On the basis of our results, electric current would appear to be a general elicitor of plant secondary metabolites and to have potential for application in both basic and commercial research.     

刺激剂(elicitor)在植物细胞培养次生代谢物生产中的应用

刺激剂（ｅｌｉｃｉｔｏｒ）在植物细胞培养中被用来作为提高次生代谢物产量的手段。文中概括介绍了微生物、寡聚糖、蛋白质、第二信使及其他物质作为刺激剂在植物细胞培养中的应用及其研究成果。     

Enhanced anthocyanins and resveratrol production in Vitis vinifera cell suspension culture by indanoyl-isoleucine, N-linolenoyl-L-glutamine and insect saliva

The effects of two synthetic elicitor indanoyl-isoleucine (In-Ile), N-linolenoyl-l-glutamine (Lin-Gln) and one biotic elicitor insect saliva (from Manduca sexta larvae) on plant cell cultures with respect to the induction of secondary metabolite production were investigated. Stimulated production of secondary metabolites, particularly anthocyanins in plant cells and phenolic acids in culture medium, was studied by using suspension culture of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Gamay Fréaux as a model system. In the treatments with In-Ile, the production of anthocyanins was enhanced 2.6-fold. In-Ile, Lin-Gln and saliva significantly elevated the accumulation of phenolic acids, particularly 3-O-glucosyl-resveratrol. The used elicitors did not suppress cell growth. Secondary metabolites were differently responsive to elicitation. 3-O-glucosyl-resveratrol was the predominant phenolic acid in V. vinifera cell culture, and its production was significantly stimulated by saliva, with 7.0-fold of the control level 24 h after treatment. The production of 4-(3,5-dihydroxy-phenyl)-phenol was significantly stimulated by In-Ile with 6.4-fold of the control level 24 h after treatment.     

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,     

Exudation: an expanding technique for continuous production and release of secondary metabolites from plant cell suspension and hairy root cultures

This review addresses methods of obtaining secondary metabolites from plant cell suspension and hairy root cultures and their exudates, particularly the physiological mechanisms of secondary metabolites release and trafficking. The efficiency for product recovery of metabolites can be increased by various methods, based on the principle of continuous product release into the cultivation medium. The most common methods for metabolite recovery are elicitation, influencing membrane permeability, and in situ product removal. The biosynthetic pathways can be influenced by cultivation conditions, transformation, or application of elicitors. The membrane permeability can be altered through the application of chemical or physical treatments. Product removal can be greatly increased through a two-phase system and the introduction of absorbents into the cultivation medium. In this review, we describe some improved approaches that have proven useful in these efforts.     

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.     

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.     

Synergistic effects of sequential treatment with methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid and yeast extract on benzophenanthridine alkaloid accumulation and protein expression in Eschscholtzia californica suspension cultures

To develop an optimal bioprocess for secondary metabolite production and explain the bioprocess at the molecular level, we examine the synergistic effects of sequential treatment with methyl jasmonate (MJ), salicylic acid (SA) and yeast extract (YE) on benzophenanthridine alkaloid accumulation and protein expression in Eschscholtzia californica suspension cultures. Serial treatment of MJ, SA and YE at 24 h intervals enhanced the accumulation of dihydrosanguinarine (2.5 times) and sanguinarine (5.5 times). This sequential treatment using different signal elicitors was more effective than single elicitor or simultaneous treatment of the elicitors; it induced benzophenanthridine alkaloid accumulation to 917.7 ± 42.0 mg/L. Also, (S)-methylcoclaurine-3′-hydroxylase (CYP80B1) and 3′-hydroxy-(S)-N-methylcoclaurine-4′-O-methyltransferase (4′OMT) expressions among enzymes in sanguinarine biosynthetic pathway explained the synergistic effects by sequential treatment of the elicitors. The sequential treatment strategy using elicitors related to different signal transduction pathways can be used to design better processes to increase accumulation of secondary metabolites in plant cell culture. Analysis of protein expression provides the detailed information about metabolite accumulation through the correlated results.     

Enhanced accumulation of decursin and decursinol angelate in root cultures and intact roots of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Angelica gigas</Emphasis> Nakai following elicitation

Angelica gigas root cultures were elicited with various elicitors, including yeast extract, chitin, methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, and copper, with the aim of increasing the production of decursin and decursinol angelate. The treatment of A. gigas root cultures with a combination of yeast extract (2 g l⁻¹) and copper ion (0.5 mM) at the late exponential growth phase increased decursinol angelate accumulation up to 6.86 mg l⁻¹. The best elicitor preparation selected through in vitro experiments was also applied to roots of A. gigas whole plants grown in the field in order to investigate the potential of elicitation as a novel cultivation practice for producing medicinal herbs of improved quality. Biweekly treatments with the elicitor at 70 mg g l⁻¹ FW roots for 10 weeks before the annual harvest resulted in an increment in both plant yields and specific productivity of decursins by 1.5- and 1.7-fold, respectively. This result implies that in vitro screening of elicitors with the ultimate aim of in planta elicitation of whole plants could be effective in terms of time and expense. The elicitation technique reported here demonstrates it potential as a strategy for improving growth and active compounds productivity of medicinal plants through short-term and pre-harvest treatment of the elicitor preparation.     

Nitric oxide elicitation for secondary metabolite production in cultured plant cells

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signal molecule in stress responses. Accumulation of secondary metabolites often occurs in plants subjected to stresses including various elicitors or signal molecules. NO has been reported to play important roles in elicitor-induced secondary metabolite production in tissue and cell cultures of medicinal plants. Better understanding of NO role in the biosynthesis of such metabolites is very important for optimizing the commercial production of those pharmaceutically significant secondary metabolites. This paper summarizes progress made on several aspects of NO signal leading to the production of plant secondary metabolites, including various abiotic and biotic elicitors that induce NO production, elicitor-triggered NO generation cascades, the impact of NO on growth development and programmed cell death in medicinal plants, and NO-mediated regulation of the biosynthetic pathways of such metabolites. Cross-talks among NO signaling and reactive oxygen species, salicylic acid, and jasmonic acid are discussed. Some perspectives on the application of NO donors for induction of the secondary metabolite accumulation in plant cultures are also presented.     

真菌诱导子对植物次生代谢物的影响及应用

近年来,真菌诱导子在诱导植物次生代谢物生产上已成为一大热点。概述真菌诱导子调节植物次生代谢物的作用机理、影响次生代谢物生产的因素及其在次生代谢物生产上的应用。     

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.     

真菌诱导子对茶条槭细胞没食子酸积累的影响

茶条槭（Acer ginnala Maxim.）叶片中含有没食子酸,但含量较低。真菌诱导子可以增加植物中一些次生代谢产物的含量,但其机理尚不十分清楚。本研究在茶条槭细胞悬浮培养的对数期加入内生真菌（Phomopsis sp.）诱导子,茶条槭细胞中没食子酸含量在24 h后开始增加,48 h时没食子酸含量达到峰值,最高含量为12.2 mg·g^-1 DW,是对照的1.58倍。茶条槭细胞对内生真菌诱导子的防御反应不同于对病原和非生物胁迫。真菌诱导子不提高培养液中pH值,也不明显增加胞内Ca²⁺浓度,但增大细胞膜通透性。培养液电导率差异显著,细胞核发生分裂,说明真菌诱导子可能促进茶条槭细胞核内有丝分裂,促使茶条槭细胞对培养液中的无机盐离子的吸收,以满足细胞生长的需要。PAL酶活性升高,在48 h时为对照的1.75倍,说明PAL酶可能参与了真菌诱导没食子酸的合成。     

Improved β-thujaplicin production in Cupressus lusitanica suspension cultures by fungal elicitor and methyl jasmonate

Production of a novel antimicrobial tropolone, beta-thujaplicin, in Cupressus lusitanica suspension cultures was studied by using a variety of chemicals and fungal elicitors. Sodium alginate, chitin, and methyl jasmonate resulted in 2-, 2.5-, and 3-fold higher beta-thujaplicin production, respectively, than in the control. Significantly improved beta-thujaplicin production (187 mg l(-1)) was obtained using a high cell density (180-200 g l(-1)) and fungal elicitor treatment [10 mg (g fresh cells)(-1)] in a production medium with a high ferrous ion concentration (0.3 mM). This improved volumetric productivity was 3- to 4-fold higher than obtained under standard conditions. A synergistic effect of fungal elicitor and ferrous ion on beta-thujaplicin production was also suggested by our study. Plant cell culture technology is a promising alternative for producing a large variety of secondary metabolites that are widely used as food additives, pharmaceuticals, and dairy products (Verpoorte et al. 1999). Thus, beta-thujaplicin production by plant cell cultures was developed with the goal of commercial application (Berlin and Witte 1988; Itose and Sakai 1997; Ono et al. 1998). However, the production of beta-thujaplicin by plant cell cultures is still not competitive for use in industrial applications. In this study, we assessed the effects of methyl jasmonate, alginate, chitin, and fungal elicitor on beta-thujaplicin production; we obtained a significantly elevated beta-thujaplicin production by using an improved culture strategy.     

Enhanced production of scopolamine by bacterial elicitors in adventitious hairy root cultures of Scopolia parviflora

In an attempt to increase productivity, the effect of elicitation on tropane alkaloids (TA) biosynthesis was studied in adventitious hairy root cultures of Scopolia parviflora. Two Gram-positive strains and one Gram-negative strain of bacteria were used as biotic elicitors. The raw bacterial elicitors affected the tropane alkaloid profile by increasing the scopolamine concentration, while the autoclaved bacterial elicitors produced similar effects on the control. The conversion ratio of hyoscyamine to scopolamine was increased following elicitation using raw bacterial elicitors. The bacterial elicitor inhibited the expression of H6H (hyoscyamine 6β-hydoxylase) whereas the expression of PMT (putrescine N-methyltransferase) was raised by elicitation. These results have important implications for the large-scale production of tropane alkaloids.     

Effect of biotic elicitors on the accumulation of bilobalide and ginkgolides in Ginkgo biloba cell cultures

The effect of biotic elicitors on the production of bilobalide and ginkgolides in Ginkgo biloba cell suspension cultures was studied. The treatment of cell cultures with Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus as elicitors increased the amounts of bilobalide (BB), ginkgolide A (GA) and ginkgolide B (GB), with slight growth inhibition. The native bacterial elicitor was more effective for secondary metabolite accumulations both in cells and culture medium than autoclaved. However, exposure times of the cells to the elicitors strongly influenced the production of BB, GA and GB. This study suggests that biotic elicitors can regulate the production of BB, GA and GB either directly or indirectly. These results also describe the establishment of optimum conditions that determine the effects of biotic elicitors on secondary metabolism of bilobalides.     

Secondary metabolism of hairy root cultures in bioreactors

Summary In vitro cultures are being considered as an alternative to agricultural processes for producing valuable secondary metabolites. Most efforts that use differentiated cultures instead of cell suspension cultures have focused on transformed (hairy) roots. Bioreactors used to culture hairy roots can be roughly divided into three types: liquid-phase, gas-phase, or hybrid reactors that are a combination of both. The growth and productivity of hairy root cultures are reviewed with an emphasis on successful bioreactors and important culture considerations. The latter include strain selection, production of product in relation to growth phase, media composition, the gas regime, use of elicitors, the role of light, and apparent product loss. Together with genetic engineering and process optimization, proper reactor design plays a key role in the development of successful large scale production of secondary metabolites from plant cultures.     

A combination of elicitation and precursor feeding leads to increased anthocyanin synthesis in cell suspension cultures of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vitis vinifera</Emphasis>

Both elicitation and precursor feeding are effective strategies for improving secondary metabolite production in plant cell suspension cultures. In this study, cell suspension cultures of Vitis vinifera subjected to methyl jasmonate treatment resulted in a significant increase in levels of anthocyanin production. Moreover, a combination of 5 mg/L phenylalanine and 50 mg/L methyl jasmonate promoted the highest level of anthocyanin biosynthesis, resulting in 4.6- and 3.4-fold increases in anthocyanin content and yield, respectively, over the control. The optimum period for elicitation of anthocyanin synthesis was 4 days following incubation in the presence of elicitors, at the beginning of the exponential growth phase. V. vinifera cell lines of different anthocyanin-producing capabilities responded differently to elicitation and precursor feeding. Anthocyanin production of a low-producing cell line, VV06, could be enhanced with addition of elicitors and precursor feeding. Methyl jasmonate was the only elicitor that increased anthocyanin production of the high-producing cell line VV05, but contributed to moderate enhancement of anthocyanin production compared with VV06. For cell line VV06, synergistic effects were observed for all treatment combinations of methyl jasmonate along with other elicitors and precursors. In addition, 6.1- and 4.6-fold increases in anthocyanin content and yield, respectively, were obtained in the presence of 5 mg/L phenylalanine, 50 mg/L methyl jasmonate, and 1 mg/L dextran. However, none of these treatment combinations exhibited synergistic effects in cell line VV05.     

Medium composition and methyl jasmonate influence the amount and spectrum of secondary metabolites in callus cultures of Zanthoxylum stenophyllum Hemsl.

Callus cultures of Zanthoxylum stenophyllum were initiated in vitro and the effect of growth regulators and elicitors was tested both upon callus growth and secondary metabolite production. On a medium containing naphthaleneacetic acid, kinetin, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, a yellowish and friable callus was obtained from 90% of cotyledon explants. Callus growth and secondary metabolite accumulation was followed after sub-culturing the established callus culture on different media containing various hormonal combinations. Results indicate that medium containing naphthaleneacetic acid and a higher concentration of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid gave the highest stimulation of growth. Addition of an organic nitrogen source also had a positive effect on growth. Rapid HPLC screening of methanol extractable secondary metabolites from calluses showed that phytohormones and nutrients were able to modify the chromatographic pattern of compounds. Calluses grown on the medium giving the highest stimulation of growth show a reduced accumulation of some secondary products, but not all. In response to elicitation by methyl jasmonate, metabolite production was different for the different classes of compounds, and hormonal composition of the culture medium influenced the response. Thus, results confirm the importance of the reciprocal interactions between hormones, nutrients, and elicitors when attempts are made to enhance secondary metabolite accumulation in in vitro cultures.