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Influence of Certain Abiotic Elicitors on Production of Anthraquinones in Cell Cultures of Rubia tinctorum

Research Authors
Ahmed M. A. Abd El-Mawla
Research Department
Research Journal
Spatula DD, doi: 10.5455/spatula.20120528021745
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
Vol. 2, No. 2
Research Year
2012
Research Abstract

AIM: As a part of our continuing interest concerning the anthraquinones production by tissue culture techniques, this study aims to describe for the first time the influence of certain abiotic elicitors on the accumulation of anthraquinones in cell suspension cultures of Rubia tinctorum L.
METHODS: Cell suspension cultures of Rubia tinctorum L., established on MS medium, containing 0.5 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine and 2.0 mg/l naphthalene acetic acid were used to study the influence of certain abiotic elicitors (methyl jasmonate, copper sulfate and salicylic acid) on the total anthraquinones content. The cultured cells were exposed to different abiotic elicitors in order to increase their productivity. Anthraquinones were quantitatively determined by HPLC analysis. The quantity of total anthraquinones was estimated on the bases of their area with respective to the area of alizarin (0.3µg) as external standard.
RESULTS: The total anthraquinones content in aerial parts, roots, calli and untreated cultured cells (control) were 1.28, 24.90, 23.97, 26.65 mg/g fresh weight respectively. Single treatment of 100 µM methyl jasmonate, 40 µM copper sulfate and 20 µM salicylic acid to cell cultures of Rubia tinctorum (5 days old) for 48 hours enhanced the total anthraquinones accumulation to 89.45, 73.55, 57.86 mg/g fresh weight respectively compared to control.
CONCLUSION: This experiment provided with others previously performed on cell cultures of Rubia tinctorum an alternative source for large scale production of anthraquinones.