title: Biotransformation of artemisinin using cell suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don and Lavandula officinalis L.
abstract: Artemisinin, an antimalarial compound, at 5 mg/40 ml, was transformed by cell suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don and Lavandula officinalis L. into deoxyartemisinin with yields >78% (3.93 mg deoxyartemisinin from 5 mg artemisinin). Maximum conversion (78.6 and 78%) occurred after 6 and 7 days of adding artemisinin to 20 and 9 days old cultures of C. roseus and L. officinalis, respectively. The procedure was scaled up by and 500 mg artemisinin was transformed into 390 mg deoxyartemisinin. Addition of artemisinin at the beginning of the culture cycle resulted in >50% reduction in dry biomass production with no bioconversion. Conversion of artemisinin occurred intracellularly followed by leaching of the product into the medium.
authors.affiliation: Plant Biotechnology Division, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, PO CIMAP, Lucknow 226015, India.
authors.forename: Suman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Rashmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaur
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Rajendra S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Bhakuni
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathur
mesh_terms: D037621:Artemisinins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001711:Biotransformation; D030008:Catharanthus / Q000378:metabolism*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D027523:Lavandula / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D037621:Artemisinins; C055261:deoxyartemisinin; C031327:artemisinin