Alkaloid accumulation dynamics in Veratrum lobelianum growing in Georgia and biological activity of Jervine

Abstract

The alkaloid accumulation dymanics in Veratrum lobelianum were investigated. Jervine was found from 0.02 to 0.11% in the subterranean part at all vegetation stages. The jervine content was greatest in subterranean plant organs, reaching a maximum (0.3%) during natural dying off of aerial organs. Jervine, a natural analog of serotonin, can be used as a specific fibroblast growth factor.Veratrum lobelianum growing in various regions of Georgia has yielded 12 pure alkaloids. One of the main alkaloids is jervine [1][2][3][4]. Jervine exhibited activity in screening experiments in a test system of isolated organs sensitive to serotonin.We studied the qualitative and quantitative composition of the total alkaloids and the jervine content in various plant organs by vegetative phases in order to find the optimal collection times of the raw material and to isolate biologically active compounds from V. lobelianum. According to our results, total alkaloids in V. lobelianum varied as functions of development phase and plant habitat [1,3].The jervine accumulation dynamics in aerial organs of V. lobelianum (Table 1) showed that the alkaloid is present in practically all stages of active vegetation. The content was maximum at a plant height of 20-30 cm. The variability of the alkaloid content separately in stems and leaves showed that jervine accumulated more in leaves at the early stage of plant development whereas the content was higher in stems than in leaves at the start of flowering. The situation changed during fruiting. The amount of jervine decreased in stems and increased in leaves although it remained less than at the start of vegetation.Pseudojervine appeared in the total alkaloids slightly later after the plant height reaches 20-30 cm. Veralosine dominated compounds containing the 22,26-iminocholestane skeleton among total alkaloids in subterranean organs of V. lobelianum in the early vegetative stages. The veralosidine and veralosinine contents remained practically constant from the appearance of young shoots until the plant reached a height of 20-30 cm.A spot for rubijervine was observed by TLC in glucoalkaloid fractions from V. lobelianum that attained a height of 20-30 cm.The variability of jervine, pseudojervine, and rubijervine contents in rhizomes with roots showed that the jervine concentration gradually increased from the moment of appearance of aerial organs and reached a maximum during natural dying off of aerial organs whereas the accumulation of pseudojervine was maximum at the start of vegetation and then gradually decreased and reached a minimum when aerial organs start to die off. The rubijervine content remained practically constant until flowering, decreased slightly during flowering, and decreased toward the end of vegetation.The presence of verazine was observed chromatographically in roots at all vegetative stages and in the aerial part of plants from 3 to 30 cm high.The content of total alkaloids in rhizomes with roots of V. lobelianum showed that the amount of alkamines increased from the very...

Transcriptome and metabolome profiling of the medicinal plant Veratrum mengtzeanum reveal key components of the alkaloid biosynthesis

“…This steroidal alkaloid has also been isolated from roots and rhizomes of V. nigrum, V. taliense, V. californicum, and V. dahuricum for the exhibition of its antitumor, antifungal, analgesic, and antiplatelet activity (Omnell et al, 1990;Li et al, 2012;Augustin et al, 2015;Li et al, 2019a;Zheng et al, 2019;Dirks et al, 2021). In another study, jervine and pseudojervine were extracted from V. lobelianum and V. dahuricum and reported as natural analogs of serotonin for stimulating the fibroblast growth activity for wound healing (Kupchan and Suffness, 1968;Shakirov and Yunusov, 1971;Suladze et al, 2006).…”