Cell culture of Euphorbia fischeriana and enhancement of terpenoid accumulation through MeJA elicitation

Abstract

Euphorbia fischeriana Steud is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family, but its clinical application has been limited due to the scarcity of natural raw materials. Therefore, this study attempted to provide a new method for producing plant materials of E. fischeriana by cell culture. During cell culture, the effects of concentrations of plant growth regulators and sucrose were investigated to improve the culture efficiency. The results showed that the combination of 1.5 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine and 0.2 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid, together with a sucrose concentration of 20 g/L in the medium was appropriate for cell growth and terpenoid accumulation. Furthermore, this study applied an elicitation strategy with methyl jasmonate (MeJA) to enhance terpenoid production and investigated the involvement of signaling molecules, such as nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The results indicated that terpenoid accumulation depended on the concentration and treatment duration of MeJA. The maximum total terpenoid content was obtained when the cells were treated with 100 μM MeJA for 4 days. The levels of NO and H2O2 in the cells increased after MeJA treatment and peaked at 8 h and 18 h, respectively, suggesting the involvement of NO and H2O2 in MeJA-induced terpenoid synthesis. The findings of this study demonstrated the potential of cell culture as a method for obtaining plant materials of E. fischeriana.