Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Esmail Dardan ¹
• Morad Jafari ²

¹ Dep. of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, I.R. of Iran

² Dep. of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, I.R. of Iran

Abstract

Calotropis procera (Aiton), belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae, is an important industrial and medicinal plant. It is a source of numerous secondary metabolites with pharmacological properties such as anticancer and antimicrobial activities. Hairy roots induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes offer tremendous potential for the production of pharmaceutically important metabolites. In this study, the effects of A. rhizogenes strains (A4, A7, A13, ATCC 15834, ATCC 11325, K599), infection time (15 and 30 min), explant type (cotyledon, hypocotyl, shoot, leaf) and explant age (14, 18, 24, 32, 42 old days) on hairy root production in C. procera were investigated. The effect of different culture media (WPM, SH, B5, MS) on biomass accumulation of the best-grown hairy root lines were also evaluated. Based on the results, hairy root induction was successful only in ATCC 15834 and K599 strains and leaf and shoot explants. Maximum hairy root induction (50%) was obtained using the K599 strain in an infection time of 30 min in 18-day-old leaf explants. There was a significant difference between the hairy root lines in terms of growth and biomass production. The highest amount of fresh root biomass (about 13 g/50 ml culture medium) was obtained in the hairy root lines cultured on MS medium. Antioxidant activity, total phenolic, and total flavonoid contents were higher in selected high-biomass-producing hairy root lines (A15L7 and K5L4) compared to non-transformed roots. The GC-MS analysis showed that the phytochemical content of C. procera hairy roots was about 2 to 9-fold higher than in wild-type roots.

Keywords

• Calotropis procera
• Agrobacterium rhizogenes
• Hairy roots
• Secondary metabolites
• GC-MS analysis

Main Subjects

• Biotechnology