Increased furanocoumarin production by Glehnia littoralis roots induced via Agrobacterium rhizogenes infection

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine a possible application of hairy roots as biotechnological producers of furanocoumarins, by establishing root clones of Glehnia littoralis after infection from Agrobacterium rhizogenes. None of the root clones grew under hormone-free conditions, but when cultured in the presence of indole-3-butyric acid, growth varied substantially across clones. Analysis of the insertion and expression of pathogenic rol (A, B^TL, B^TR, and C) genes for 10 clones showed that the stable expression of rolC and irregular expression of rolB were detected in 2 clones, which exhibited active growth and higher furanocoumarin induction. Following ascorbic acid treatment, the productivity of xanthotoxin and bergapten in a root clone harbouring a pathogenic gene was 2.8 and 3.7 times greater than that recorded in wild-type roots, respectively. These results indicate that root cultures possessing pathogenic rol genes offer a potential means to produce furanocoumarins.