[Induction of polyploid hairy roots and its plant regeneration in Pogostemon cablin].

Abstract: In order to enhance the content of secondary metabolites patchouli alcohol in Pogostemon cablin, we induced polyploid hairy roots and their plant regeneration, and determined the content of patchouli alcohol through artificial chromosome doubling with colchicine. The highest rate of polyploidy induction was more than 40% when hairy roots were treated with 0.05% colchicine for 36 h. The obtained polyploid hairy roots formed adventitious shoots when cultured in an MS medium with 6-BA 0.2 mg/L and NAA 0.1 mg/L for 60 d. Compared with the control diploid plants, the polyploid hairy root-regenerated plants of P. cablin had more developed root systems, thicker stems, shorter internodes and longer, wider and thicker leaves. Observation of the chromosome number in their root tip cells reveals that the obtained polyploid regenerated plants were tetraploidy, with 128 (4n = 128) chromosomes. The leaves contained around twice as many stomatal guard cells and chloroplasts as the controls, but the stomatal density declined with increasing ploidy. The stomatal density in diploid plants was around 1.67 times of that in polyploid plants. GC-MS analysis shows that the content of patchouli alcholol in the hairy root-derived polyploid plants was about 4.25 mg/g dry weight, which was 2.3 times of that in diploid plants. The present study demonstrates that polyploidization of hairy roots can stimulate the content of patchouli alcholol in medicinal plant of P. cablin.

[Induction of hairy roots of Pueraria phaseoloides and its culture in liquid and solid medium].

An efficient transformation system for genetic transformation of medicinal plant, Pueraria phaseoloides, which contains puerarin and daidzein with hypothermic, spasmolytic, hypotensive and anti-arrhythmic activities, by using agropine-type Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC 15834 was developed. Hairy roots could be obtained directly from the cut edges of petioles of leaf explants of P. phaseoloides or via callus 20 days after inoculation with agrobacterium. The percentage of rooted leaf explants 35 days after infection was about 85%. Hairy roots could have a rapid growth on solid or liquid growth regulator-free MS medium. The transformation of hairy roots was confirmed by PCR amplification of rol B and rol C genes of Ri plasmid from A. rhizogenes. To investigate the physiological difference between solid and liquid culture, the biomass (fresh weight and dry weight), the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the total content of soluble sugar in hairy roots cultured for 15 days in solid and liquid medium were detected, respectively, by the method of fluorescence labeling of 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (2',7'-DCFH-DA) and by the anthrone colourimetry. Compared to hairy roots in solid medium, hairy roots grew more rapidly in liquid medium but formed no callus and appeared to become brown earlier during culture. The fresh weight, the dry weight, the total content of soluble sugar and the levels of reactive oxygen species of hairy roots cultured into liquid medium MS without plant growth regulators for 15 days were 1.59 times, 1.18 times, 5.25 times and 1.16 times, respectively as much as that of hairy roots cultured onto solid medium. Our results firstly indicate that P. phaseoloides hairy roots in solid medium can utilize or metabolize more soluble sugar but produce less reactive oxygen species than that in liquid medium. This may be related to the fact that hairy roots are easier to turn brown in liquid medium than that onto solid medium. Our results have laid a foundation for defining optimum culture manner for large-scale cultivation and large-scale production of secondary metabolites of P. phaseoloides hairy roots.