Abstract
Establishment of adventitious root cultures of Peritassa campestris (Celastraceae) was achieved from seed cotyledons cultured in semisolid Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 2% sucrose, 0.01% PVP, and 4.0 mg L−1 IBA. Culture period on accumulation of biomass and quinone-methide triterpene maytenin in adventitious root were investigated. The accumulation of maytenin in these roots was compared with its accumulation in the roots of seedlings grown in a greenhouse (one year old). A rapid detection and identification of maytenin by direct injection into an atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization ion trap tandem mass spectrometer (APCI-IT-MS/MS) were performed without prior chromatographic separation. In vitro, the greatest accumulation of biomass occurred within 60 days of culture. The highest level of maytenin—972.11 μg·g−1 dry weight—was detected at seven days of cultivation; this value was 5.55-fold higher than that found in the roots of seedlings grown in a greenhouse.
Highlights
Quinone-methide triterpenes (QMTs) are secondary metabolites that occur only in plants of the Celastraceae family
Attention has been focused on the QMT maytenin, because it is highly toxic to a panel of cancer cell lines (Table 1)
We verified initial formation of adventitious roots of P. campestris after four weeks of inoculation in Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 2% (w/v) sucrose, 0.01% (w/v) PVP, and 4.0 mg⋅L−1 IBA (Figure 1(c))
Summary
Quinone-methide triterpenes (QMTs) are secondary metabolites that occur only in plants of the Celastraceae family. QMTs are considered chemotaxonomic indicators of this family [1, 2]. These terpenes display a wide range of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory [3], antioxidant [4, 5], antifungal [6], antitrypanosomal [7], antimicrobial [8], and mainly antitumor action. Despite the pharmacological potential of maytenin, no reports of their chemical synthesis exist. This is probably because they are structurally complex and contain several stereogenic centers. Extraction from plants may be a feasible strategy to obtain maytenin
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