Long-term response on growth, antioxidant enzymes, and secondary metabolites in salicylic acid pre-treated Uncaria tomentosa microplants.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain micro propagated Uncaria tomentosa plantlets with enhanced secondary metabolites production, long-term responses to salicylic acid (SA) pre-treatments at 1 and 100 µM were evaluated after propagation of the plantlets in a SA-free medium. RESULTS: SA pre-treatments of single node cuttings OF U. tomentosa produced long-term responses in microplants grown for 75 days in a SA-free medium. Reduction in survival rate, root formation, and stem elongation were observed only with 100 µM SA pre-treatments with respect to the control (0 + DMSO).Both pre-treatments enhanced H2O2 and inhibited superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, while guaiacol peroxidase was increased only with 1 µM SA. Also, both pre-treatments increased total monoterpenoid oxindole alkaloids by ca. 55 % (16.5 mg g(-1) DW), including isopteropodine, speciophylline, mitraphylline, isomitraphylline, rhynchopylline, and isorhynchopylline; and flavonoids by ca. 21 % (914 µg g(-1) DW), whereas phenolic compounds were increased 80 % (599 µg g(-1) DW) at 1 µM and 8.2 % (359 µg g(-1) DW) at 100 µM SA. CONCLUSION: Pre-treatment with 1 µM SA of U.tomentosa microplants preserved the survival rate and increased oxindole alkaloids, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds in correlation with H2O2 and peroxidase activity enhancements, offering biotechnological advantages over non-treated microplants.

Strictosidine-related enzymes involved in the alkaloid biosynthesis of Uncaria tomentosa root cultures grown under oxidative stress.

The activity and gene expression of strictosidine-related enzymes in Uncaria tomentosa root cultures exposed to oxidative stress were studied. Elicitation with 0.2 mM hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) or a combination of 0.8 mM buthionine sulfoximine and 0.2 mM jasmonic acid (BSO-JA) increased peroxidase activities by twofold at Day 8 and glutathione reductase by 1.4-fold at Day 5 in H2 O2 elicited cultures respect to the control. Production of monoterpenoid oxindole alkaloids (MOA), 3α-dihydrocadambine, and dolichantoside was stimulated after H2 O2 elicitation, reaching levels of 886.4 ± 23.6, 847.7 ± 25.4, and 87.5 ± 7.2 µg/g DW, at Day 8 which were 1.7-, 2.1-, and 2.3-fold higher relative to control. BSO-JA elicited cultures produced about twice alkaloids than H2 O2 -treated cultures, following a biphasic pattern with maxima at 0.5 and 8 days. Alkaloid production was preceded by increase in strictosidine synthase (STR) and strictosidine glucosidase (SGD) activities. After elicitation with H2 O2 or BSO-JA, the STR activity (pKat/mg protein) increased by 1.9-fold (93.8 ± 17.8 at 24 h) or 2.5-fold (102.4 ± 2.2 at 6 h) and the SGD activity (pKat/mg protein) by 2.8-fold (245.2 ± 14.4 at 6 h) or 4.2-fold (421.2 ± 1.8 at 18 h) relative to control. STR and SGD transcripts were upregulated after elicitation. H2 O2 -treated roots showed higher levels of STR at 48-192 h and SGD at 24-48 h, while BSO-JA treatments showed STR increased at 12 h and SGD at 24 h. Also, LC/ESI-MS confirmed the biosynthesis of dolichantoside from N-ω-methyltryptamine and secologanin by U. tomentosa protein extracts.

Induced accumulation of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid in cell suspension cultures of Uncaria tomentosa.

Increasing sucrose from 20 to 50 g l(-1) in Uncaria tomentosa cell suspension cultures enhanced ursolic acid and oleanolic acid production from 129 +/- 61 to 553 +/- 193 microg g(-1) cell dry wt. The maximal concentration of both triterpenes (1680 +/- 39 microg g(-1) cell dry wt) was 8 days after elicitation by jasmonic acid, while yeast extract or citrus pectin treatments produced 1189 +/- 20 or 1120 +/- 26 microg g(-1) cell dry wt, respectively. The ratio of ursolic acid:oleanolic acid was constant at 70:30.

Influence of auxins and sucrose in monoterpenoid oxindole alkaloid production by Uncaria tomentosa cell suspension cultures.

Growth and alkaloid production in Uncaria tomentosa cell suspension cultures were studied in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 10 microM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 10 microM kinetin, and 58 mM sucrose for maintenance and with 10 microM indole-3-acetic acid, 10 microM kinetin, and 58 mM sucrose for production. A U. tomentosa pale Uth-3 cell line, cultured in the production medium, showed a reduced lag phase and a specific growth rate (mu) of 0.27 day(-1), while cells growing in the maintenance medium showed mu = 0.20 day(-1). U. tomentosa cells growing in the production medium produced monoterpenoid oxindole alkaloids (MOA) in amounts of 10.2 +/- 1.6 microg g(-1) dry weight (DW). The chemical profile of MOA produced by in vitro cell cultures was similar to that found in the plant. After 10 subcultures, maximum MOA production decreased to 2.0 +/- 0.7 microg g(-1) DW, while tryptamine alkaloids (TA) were produced with a maximum of 6.2 +/- 0.4 microg g(-1) DW. The increase of initial sucrose concentration up to 145 mM in the production medium enhanced the cell biomass by 3.2-fold (from 10.2 +/- 0.1 to 32.8 +/- 1.1 g DW L(-1)), reduced mu from 0.27 to 0.23 day(-1), and provoked a substantial accumulation of TA (23.1 +/- 4.7 microg g(-1) DW). A high sucrose concentration stimulated MOA production in the maintenance medium (2.7 +/- 0.5 microg g(-1) DW), even in the presence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.

Biosynthesis of sterols and triterpenes in cell suspension cultures of Uncaria tomentosa.

Pectin administered to Uncaria tomentosa cell suspension cultures, was found to increase the production of triterpene acids (ursolic and oleanolic acid), however, neither growth nor sterol accumulation were affected. Cell cultures showed that pectin treatment caused a rapid threefold increase in the activities of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of C(5) and C(30 )isoprenoid, such as isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase and squalene synthase. The activity of a farnesyl diphosphatase, which could divert the flux of farnesyl diphosphate to farnesol, was two times lower in elicited than in control cells. Elicited cells also transformed more rapidly a higher percentage of [5-(3)H]mevalonic acid into triterpene acids. Interestingly, addition of terbinafine, an inhibitor of squalene epoxidase, to elicited cell cultures inhibited sterol accumulation while triterpene production was not inhibited. These results suggest that in U. tomentosa cells, both the previously mentioned enzymes and those involved in squalene 2,3-oxide formation play an important regulatory role in the biosynthesis of sterols and triterpenes.