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.