title: Enhancement of tanshinone production in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (red or Chinese sage) hairy-root culture by hyperosmotic stress and yeast elicitor.
abstract: The present study evaluates the use of hyperosmotic stress and a biotic elicitor YE (yeast elicitor; polysaccharide fraction of yeast extract) to stimulate diterpenoid tanshinone production in hairy-root culture of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Lamiaceae). Sorbitol was applied as an osmoticum at various concentrations (30-100 g/l) to the hairy-root culture in MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium [Murashige and Skoog (1962) Physiol. Plant. 15, 473-497] containing 30 g/l sucrose, and it increased the TT (total tanshinone) content of roots most dramatically at 50-70 g/l (medium osmolality 410-500 mmol/kg; 1 mol/kg approximately 1 osmol/kg), to 4.5-fold of that in the control. The hairy roots showed strong tolerance to hyperosmotic stress, retaining a stable or higher dry weight of roots at osmolality up to 500 mmol/kg. Most remarkably, the combined use of sorbitol (50 g/l) and YE (100 mg/l) increased the TT content 10-fold (1481.6 versus 146.4 microg/g dry root) and the volumetric tanshinone yield 9-fold (16.3 versus 1.77 mg/l) compared with the control. The results suggest that the combined use of hyperosmotic stress and a biotic elicitor can effectively enhance secondary metabolite production in hairy-root cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.forename: Jian Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D045784:Abietanes; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D002457:Cell Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000378:metabolism; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D027561:Salvia miltiorrhiza / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013012:Sorbitol / Q000494:pharmacology; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D015003:Yeasts / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D045784:Abietanes; D002457:Cell Extracts; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010616:Phenanthrenes; C021751:tanshinone; D013012:Sorbitol; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase