Hairy root cultures of Rhodiola rosea to increase valuable bioactive compounds

Henrik Vlk Lütken, Natalia Meropi-Antypa, Oliver Kemp, Josefine Nymark Hegelund, Renate Müller

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rhodiola rosea, commonly known as roseroot, is an arctic and alpine plant distributed on the northern hemisphere. The plant has for long been used ethnobotanically as a means of increasing endurance and as a general cure against several diseases. Nowadays, the medicinal properties of roseroot have been characterized, and some of its important bioactive compounds are salidroside and the rosavinoids rosavin, rosarin, and rosin. The primary effect of the plant has been described as adaptogenic, i.e., providing a nonspecific broad-range response. Recently, R. rosea has increased in popularity which has led to overexploitation in nature, and new bio-sustainable production methods are needed for future production. Transformation with the soil bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes is a promising strategy to increase the natural content of bioactive compounds within plants. The increase of the bioactive compounds is caused by the root oncogenic loci (rol) genes, present on the transfer DNA within the bacterial plasmid. The rol genes are integrated in the plant host genome during transformation, causing formation of hairy roots. Other species in the Rhodiola genus have been successfully transformed by A. rhizogenes. However, several optimizations in terms of selection of superior plant lines, explant for transformation, and tissue culture are needed in order for R. rosea to serve as a platform for the production of bioactive compounds in hairy root cultures. Once established, several further measures could be taken to increase the content of bioactive compounds further, in that respect genome editing via the CRISPR/Cas9 system is emerging as a powerful beacon.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProduction of plant derived natural compounds through hairy root culture
EditorsSonia Malik
Number of pages24
PublisherSpringer
Publication date1 Dec 2017
Pages65-88
Chapter4
ISBN (Print)978-3-319-69768-0
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-319-69769-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017

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