Machine Learning Technology Reveals the Concealed Interactions of Phytohormones on Medicinal Plant In Vitro Organogenesis.

Pascual García-Pérez,Eva Lozano-Milo,Pedro Pablo Gallego,Mariana Landín

doi:10.3390/biom10050746

Abstract

Organogenesis constitutes the biological feature driving plant in vitro regeneration, in which the role of plant hormones is crucial. The use of machine learning (ML) technology stands out as a novel approach to characterize the combined role of two phytohormones, the auxin indoleacetic acid (IAA) and the cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), on the in vitro organogenesis of unexploited medicinal plants from the Bryophyllum subgenus. The predictive model generated by neurofuzzy logic, a combination of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and fuzzy logic algorithms, was able to reveal the critical factors affecting such multifactorial process over the experimental dataset collected. The rules obtained along with the model allowed to decipher that BAP had a pleiotropic effect on the Bryophyllum spp., as it caused different organogenetic responses depending on its concentration and the genotype, including direct and indirect shoot organogenesis and callus formation. On the contrary, IAA showed an inhibiting role, restricted to indirect shoot regeneration. In this work, neurofuzzy logic emerged as a cutting-edge method to characterize the mechanism of action of two phytohormones, leading to the optimization of plant tissue culture protocols with high large-scale biotechnological applicability.

Highlights

Recent reports have highlighted that the 25% of all drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proceed from plant sources [1]
In order to shed light on the concealed effects and interactions promoted by cytokinins and auxins on in vitro plant organogenesis, machine learning methodology emerges as a powerful tool, based on artificial intelligence technology
Our model identified the interaction between genotype and BAP concentration as the most significant factor driving organogenesis in these species

Summary

Introduction

Recent reports have highlighted that the 25% of all drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proceed from plant sources [1]. From an industrial point of view, plant in vitro tissue culture constitutes a successful technology for large-scale processes: it offers an enhanced yield stability and quality of plant by-products and, at the same time, it enables the inclusion of different applications under controlled conditions to respond to industrial requirements [2]. In this sense, a plethora of strategies has already been applied to that end, such as metabolic engineering, elicitation and culture media optimization [3]. They both work coordinately to guide different organogenetic responses towards the formation of new structures that give rise to organs, through a complex intracellular crosstalk that has not been fully elucidated to date [9]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion