Application of chitin and chitosan as elicitors of coumarins and furoquinolone alkaloids in Ruta graveolens L. (common rue)

Abstract

Common rue (Ruta graveolens L.) accumulates various types of secondary metabolites, such as coumarins furanocoumarins, acridone and quinolone alkaloids and flavonoids. Elicitation is a tool extensively used for enhancing secondary-metabolite yields. Chitin and chitosan are examples of elicitors inducing phytoalexin accumulation in plant tissue. The present paper describes the application of chitin and chitosan as potential elicitors of secondary-metabolite accumulation in R. graveolens shoots cultivated in vitro. The simple coumarins, linear furanocoumarins, dihydrofuranocoumarins and fluoroquinolone alkaloids biosynthesized in the presence of chitin and chitosan were isolated, separated and identified. There was a significant increase in the growth rate of R. graveolens shoots in the presence of either chitin or chitosan. Moreover, the results of the elicitation of coumarins and alkaloids accumulated by R. graveolens shoots in the presence of chitin and chitosan show that both compounds induced a significant increase in the concentrations of nearly all the metabolites. Adding 0.01% chitin caused the increase in the quantity (microg/g dry weight) of coumarins (pinnarin up to 116.7, rutacultin up to 287.0, bergapten up to 904.3, isopimpinelin up to 490.0, psoralen up to 522.2, xanhotoxin up to 1531.5 and rutamarin up to 133.7). The higher concentration of chitosan (0.1%) induced production of simple coumarins (pinnarin up to 116.7 and rutacultin up to 287.0), furanocoumarins (bergapten up to 904.3, isopimpinelin up to 490.0, psoralen up to 522.2, xanhotoxin up to 1531.5) and dihydrofuranocoumarins (chalepin up to 18 and rutamarin up to 133.7). Such a dramatic increase in the production of nearly all metabolites suggests that these compounds may be participating in the natural resistance mechanisms of R. graveolens. The application of chitin- and chitosan-containing media may be considered a promising prospect in the biotechnological production of xanthotoxin, isopimpinelin, psoralen, chalepin or methoxylated dictamnine derivatives.

Oligochitosan: A plant diseases vaccine—A review

“…In 1980, Hadwiger (Hadwiger & Beckman, 1980) found oligochitosan from F. solani cell walls could induce pisatin (a phytoalexin) in soybean pod in 24 h. Similar results were got in parsley (Conrath, Domard, & Kauss, 1989) and Catharantus roseus (Kauss, Jeblick, & Domard, 1989). The elicitation of coumarins accumulated in Ruta graveolens shoots after treatment of oligochitosan was studied by Orlita et al (2008). 0.1% oligochitosan induced production of not only simple coumarins but also furanocoumarins and dihydrofuranocoumarins.…”

Polysaccharide elicitors enhance anthocyanin and phenolic acid accumulation in cell suspension cultures of Vitis vinifera

“…mirifica cell suspension was suppressed by chitosan, but not affected by yeast extract (Korsangruang et al 2010). There are also studies showing that elicitation could have a stimulating effect on cell growth (Orlita et al 2008). Overall, the effect of elicitors on cell growth is dependent on elicitors, used concentrations or conditions, plant species, the stage when the elicitor is applied, etc.…”

“…Chitin and chitosan (deacetylated chitin) are exogenous biotic elicitors that are derived from the fungal cell wall (Montesano et al 2003). They have been studied for their effects on phenylpropanoid metabolic enzymes (Chakraborty et al 2009) and secondary metabolite production (Korsangruang et al 2010;Orlita et al 2008;Wiktorowska et al 2010). Pectin was found to enhance oleanolic acid accumulation in Calendula officinalis L. cell suspension cultures (Wiktorowska et al 2010).…”

Bioprocess Optimization of Furanocoumarin Elicitation by Medium Renewal and Re-elicitation: A Perfusion-Based Approach

“…al. [9][10][11] recently reported enhanced FC production in response to various biotic and abiotic elicitors in R. graveolens shoot cultures. However, they did not investigate the effect of elicitation on product release and biomass.…”