title: Root endophyte Piriformospora indica DSM 11827 alters plant morphology, enhances biomass and antioxidant activity of medicinal plant Bacopa monniera.
abstract: Unorganized collections and over exploitation of naturally occurring medicinal plant Bacopa monniera is leading to rapid depletion of germplasm and is posing a great threat to its survival in natural habitats. The species has already been listed in the list of highly threatened plants of India. This calls for micropropagation based multiplication of potential accessions and understanding of their mycorrhizal associations for obtaining plants with enhanced secondary metabolite contents. The co-cultivation of B. monniera with axenically cultivated root endophyte Piriformospora indica resulted in growth promotion, increase in bacoside content, antioxidant activity and nuclear hypertrophy of this medicinal plant.
authors.affiliation: Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: Shwet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.forename: Pradeep K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oelmüller
authors.forename: Ajit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varma
mesh_terms: D034681:Bacopa / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000502:physiology*; D018533:Biomass; D060026:Endophytes; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
keywords: Antioxidant activity; Bacopa monniera; Bacosides; Mycorrhiza; Piriformospora indica