Effects of Abiotic Elicitors on Expression and Accumulation of Three Candidate Benzophenanthridine Alkaloids in Cultured Greater Celandine Cells.

Efforts to develop the necessary biotechnologies in Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus L.), a leading plant resource for the development of plant-derived medicines, have been hampered by the lack of knowledge about transcriptome and metabolome regulations of its medicinal components. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of abiotic elicitors, methyl jasmonate (MJ) and salicylic acid (SA), at different time courses (12, 24, 48, and 72 h), on expression and metabolome of key benzophenanthridine alkaloids (BPAs) in an optimized in vitro culture. Gene expression analysis indicated the upregulation of CFS (cheilanthifoline synthase) to 2.62, 4.85, and 7.28 times higher than the control at 12, 24, and 48 h respectively, under MJ elicitation. Besides, MJ upregulated the expression of TNMT (tetrahydroprotoberberine N-methyltransferase) to 2.79, 4.75, and 7.21 times at 12, 24, and 48 h respectively, compared to the control. Investigation of BPAs revealed a significant enhancement in the chelidonine content (9.86 µg/mg) after 72 h of MJ elicitation. Additionally, sanguinarine content increased to its highest level (3.42 µg/mg) after 24 h of MJ elicitation; however, no significant enhancement was detected in its content in shorter elicitation time courses. Generally, higher gene expression and BPAs' level was observed through longer elicitation courses (48 and 72 h). Our findings take part in improving the understanding of transcription and metabolic regulation of BPAs in cultured Greater Celandine cells.

Screening of As-accumulating plants using a foliar application and a native accumulation of As.

The discovery of novel accumulating plants is useful for efficient phytoremediation due to the demands of various conditions of impacted sites such as land use, soil properties, concentration of pollutants, and climate. In the present study, we investigated foliar application or a field with highly bioavailable arsenic (As) to screen As-accumulating plants. Plants grown in the downstream of a hot springs area were analyzed for native As accumulation and As foliar application, and the rhizosphere soils were collected. The water-soluble As in the rhizosphere soils had a high average, 144 microg/kg, whereas total As was similar to normal soil in Japan. Among 34 herbaceous plants and 17 woody plants, Chelidonium majus var. asiaticum accumulated a relatively high As level, 8.07 mg/kg DW (93.6% of As added), that was not revealed by native accumulation. In a further pot experiment, C. majus accumulated a moderately high As level (314 mg/kg DW) in the roots but not in the shoot (30.1 mg/kg DW), and exhibited a low transfer factor (TF = 0.096). Thus, a foliar application would be a simple and high-throughput method to screen plants that accumulate and tolerate As. C. majus would be useful as a tool for phytostabilization of As.

In vitro activity of plant extracts and alkaloids against clinical isolates of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains.

The antibacterial activity of 80% ethanol extracts of 10 medicinal plants collected in Yunnan (Southwest China), was tested against clinical isolates of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains. Their MIC values ranged between 1.56-12.50 mg/mL. The most active plant extract was Chelidonium majus L. (MIC = 1.56 mg/mL). Two potent isoquinoline alkaloids, 8-hydroxydihydrosanguinarine and 8-hydroxydihydrochelerythrine, were identified as the major active principles through bioassay-guided fractionation and identification of the active ethyl acetate fraction from C. majus, with minimum MIC/MBC values of 15.63/62.50 mg/mL.

[Magnetic liquid influence upon some plant species of pharmaceutical interest]. / Influenta lichidelor magnetice asupra unor specii de plante de interes farmaceutic.

It was accomplished a study on the influence of a petroleum magnetic liquid upon two plant species of pharmaceutical interest: Papaver somniferum L. and Chelidonium majus L. Experimental observation aimed: callus accumulation, seed germination, mitotic index and fluorescence of the photosynthesis pigments. The plant samples were taken from in vitro cultures obtained from different explant types while the magnetic liquid was added in the culture media in low concentrations (ml/l). The germination test showed a positive influence of the magnetic liquid, the cell division test revealed an increased mitotic index, callus accumulation rate is enhanced while the fluorescence spectra showed maxima shift for the samples in comparison to the controls.