Abstract
Unique biosynthetic abilities revealed by plants determine in vitro cultures of hairy roots as a suitable source of pharmaceutically relevant bioactive compounds. The basic aim of the study was to examine the applicability of aerogel composed of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) for immobilization of Rindera graeca hairy roots by identifying quantitative effects of biomass proliferation and naphthoquinones extracellular secretion in the aerogel-supported culture system. R. graeca hairy roots were simultaneously cultured for 28-days, as (i) nonimmobilized biomass (reference system), (ii) biomass immobilized on macroporous polyurethane foam (PUF), (iii) biomass with disintegrated MTMS aerogel, (iv) biomass immobilized on polypropylene (PP) fibers (as control), and (v) biomass immobilized on monolithic PP-reinforced MTMS aerogel. MTMS aerogel exhibited high level of biocompatibility toward R. graeca hairy roots which grew into the structure of monolithic aerogel-based constructs. Monolithic MTMS-based constructs significantly promoted the proliferation of hairy roots, resulting in 55% higher fresh mass than the reference system. The highest level of naphthoquinones productivity, i.e., 653 µg gDW−1, was noted for PUF-supported culture system.
Highlights
Plant secondary metabolites, produced with unique biosynthetic machinery of metabolic pathways, are a natural and renewable source of bioactive compounds for the biopharmaceutical industry [1]
Where mn is the weight of naphthoquinones in the culture system, DB28d is the dry weight of transgenic roots biomass measured at 28th day of culture, DB0d is the dry weight of transgenic roots inoculum
MTMS aerogel was presented as a bifunctional biomaterial for simultaneous immobilization of R. graeca roots and induction of naphthoquinones productivity, as well as for improved in situ extraction of biosynthesized metabolites
Summary
Plant secondary metabolites, produced with unique biosynthetic machinery of metabolic pathways, are a natural and renewable source of bioactive compounds for the biopharmaceutical industry [1]. Biomass immobilization and in situ product removal were demonstrated as the most distinguishing in terms of effectivity [4,5]. Both techniques, recognized well for their implementation in classic in vitro cultures of isolated plant cells, e.g., callus tissue cells, are so far less familiar in the field of plant organs bioprocessing, e.g., hairy (transgenic) roots. From the chemical point of view, naphthoquinones are shikonin derivatives, mainly, which are highly lipophilic pigments with wide profile of bioactivity [7,8,9]
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