title: Nitrogen supply and abiotic stress influence canavanine synthesis and the productivity of in vitro regenerated Sutherlandia frutescens microshoots.
abstract: Environmental stresses can significantly alter the synthesis of both primary and secondary metabolites, resulting in medicinal plants with unpredictable biological activity. Here, in vitro shoot cultures of the medicinal plant Sutherlandia frutescens were used to study the impact of three abiotic stresses (nitrogen availability, drought and salinity), primarily on l-canavanine synthesis. This compound, a non-protein amino acid, is amongst those metabolites linked to the health benefits of Sutherlandia extracts. Nitrogen supplied to microplants positively correlated with canavanine levels, exhibited by a fourfold reduction when nitrates provided were halved. Although the biomass generated was lowered under these conditions, a higher capacity for rooting (52%) in comparison to the controls (37%) became evident. Only a small increase of the canavanine content in microplants growing on 100mM NaCl medium was detected, indicating that salinity stress was not a major limitation on cavanine production, but that it played more of a role in vitro on plantlet morphogenesis. Similarly, PEG as a supplement had little to no effect on canavanine synthesis. We conclude that a deeper understanding of the nutritional requirements for the agricultural crop management of S. frutescens, which serves the herbal products industry, is needed.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Plant Biotechnology, Department of Genetics, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Colling
authors.forename: Marietjie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Stander
authors.forename: Nokwanda P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Makunga
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002172:Canavanine / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000494:pharmacology; D012038:Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects*; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques
chemical_list: D002172:Canavanine; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D009584:Nitrogen