Growth regulators alter the development and metabolism of lemon balm seedlings cultured in vitro

Abstract

Melissa officinalis L., popularly known as lemon balm, is an aromatic plant widely used in medicine, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries for its essential oil rich in phenylpropanoids, terpenes, and phenolics. This study aimed to assess the effect of growth regulators on the development and physiological and biochemical metabolism of M. officinalis cultured in vitro. Seeds were inoculated in Murashige and Skoog medium and added with the regulators 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) according to six different treatments. After 90 days of culture, plants were evaluated for growth and biochemical and physiological parameters (flavonoids, anthocyanins, and chlorophyll). The balance between regulators interfered with plant growth, which increased in the presence of 0.2 mg L-1 BAP. In this treatment, the plants had greater growth with more leaves, and the biomass production of shoots and roots was higher than the control. Growth regulators did not influence nitrogen assimilation or flavonoid production; however, total chlorophyll and anthocyanin indexes were enhanced by treatment with BAP at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 mg L-1. Auxin treatment did not improve root production or growth but favored callus formation when combined with 0.5–3.0 mg L-1 BAP. The results indicate that high BAP concentrations (above 1.0 mg L-1) should not be used in in vitro production of lemon balm.

Analysis of the response mechanisms of Pinellia ternata to terahertz wave stresses using transcriptome and metabolic data

“…The ability to identify additional hormone metabolites (precursors, catabolites, and conjugates) in a single sample, thanks to recent technological advancements in analytical approaches, has allowed researchers to learn more about the overall structure of the hormone metabolome ( Isoda et al., 2021 ). A sufficient extraction solvent is essential to prevent enzymatic degradation, reduce the concentrations of interfering compounds, and effectively extract analytes from plant tissues ( da Silva and Magalhaes, 2023 ). Typically, ACN extraction is used in non-targeted metabolomic studies ( Yu et al., 2023a ).…”