title: Silybin content and overexpression of chalcone synthase genes in Silybum marianum L. plants under abiotic elicitation.
abstract: Silymarin, a Silybum marianum seed extract containing a mixture of flavonolignans including silybin, is being used as an antihepatotoxic therapy for liver diseases. In this study, the enhancing effect of gamma irradiation on plant growth parameters of S. marianum under salt stress was investigated. The effect of gamma irradiation, either as a single elicitor or coupled with salinity, on chalcone synthase (CHS) gene expression and silybin A + B yield was also evaluated. The silybin A + B content in S. marianum fruits was estimated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). An increase in silybin content was accompanied by up-regulation of the CHS1, CHS2 and CHS3 genes, which are involved in the silybin biosynthetic pathway. The highest silybin A + B production (0.77 g/100 g plant DW) and transcript levels of the three studied genes (100.2-, 91.9-, and 24.3-fold increase, respectively) were obtained with 100GY gamma irradiation and 4000 ppm salty water. The CHS2 and CHS3 genes were partially sequenced and submitted to the NCBI database under the accession numbers KT252908.1 and KT252909.1, respectively. Developing new approaches to stimulate silybin biosynthetic pathways could be a useful tool to potentiate the use of plants as renewable resources of medicinal compounds.
authors.affiliation: Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Moshtohor 13736, Qalyubia, Egypt. Electronic address: hoda.algarhy@fagr.bu.edu.eg.
authors.forename: Hoda A S
authors.initials: HAS
authors.lastname: El-Garhy
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, 41522, Ismailia, Egypt; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Faisal University, P.O. Box. 380, Al-Asia, 31982, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Salah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khattab
authors.affiliation: Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Moshtohor 13736, Qalyubia, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mahmoud M A
authors.initials: MMA
authors.lastname: Moustafa
authors.affiliation: Nucleic Acid and Protein Structure Department, Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Rania
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abou Ali
authors.affiliation: Colleges of Biotechnology, Miser University for Science and Technology (MUST), 6th October City, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Abdel Azeiz
authors.affiliation: Chemical Analysis Lab., National Gene Bank of Egypt, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Abeer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elhalwagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, 41522, Ismailia, Egypt; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Faisal University, P.O. Box. 380, Al-Asia, 31982, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: Felsherif@kfu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Fadia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: El Sherif
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005720:Gamma Rays; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018525:Germination; D020944:Silybum marianum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D005810:Multigene Family; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054712:Salinity; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development; D000077385:Silybin; D012838:Silymarin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D012838:Silymarin; D000077385:Silybin; D000217:Acyltransferases; C020141:flavanone synthetase
keywords: Chalcone synthase (CHS) genes; Gamma rays; LC-MS/MS; Sea water; Silybin; Silybum marianum