Increasing the content of leaf and root alkaloids of high alkaloid content mutants of periwinkle through nitrogen fertilization

Effects of PEG-induced drought stress on regulation of indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus

“…Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus) is a highly exploited perennial herbaceous flowering medicinal plant for its many valuable terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) (Ganapathi & Kargi 1990) such as anti-cancer bisindole alkaloid vinblastine (VBL) and vincristine (VCR) (Sreevalli et al 2004;Verma et al 2007). Currently, chemical synthesis and metabolic engineering plant cell or tissue culture (Whitmer et al 1998;Hughes & Shanks 2002) are alternative methods for the synthesis and production of TIAs.…”

Effect of Drought and Nitrogen on Betulin and Oleanolic Acid Accumulation and OSC Gene Expression in White Birch Saplings

“…The synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites in plants are the result of long-term survival and selection under certain environmental conditions; specific physiological and biochemical reactions in plants are highly evident under specific ecological conditions (Pezeshki and Santos 1998;Liu 2000;Jackson and Colmer 2005;Sreevakki et al 2004). It is known that plant growth and development depends on an adequate supply of nitrogen (N), which helps in amino acid, protein and nucleic acid synthesis (Sanchez et al 2004).…”

“…Therefore, low N has an extensive impact on the overall plant metabolism, e.g., induction of a shift from Nto C-based compounds (Van Arendonk et al 1998;RubioWilhelmi et al 2012b) and the accumulation of phenolic metabolites (Fritz et al 2006;Rubio-Wilhelmi et al 2012a). Previous studies have shown that N fertilization increases alkaloid content in yellow pine saplings, lupinus, hordeum, and tobacco, while N deficiency severely inhibits the synthesis of alkaloids (Sreevakki et al 2004;Wang et al 2010): alkaloids contain N atoms in their molecular structure, and their biosynthesis requires this element. While additional or excessive N is propitious to the synthesis of alkaloid and cyanogenic glycosides, a shortage thereof leads to terpene and phenol accumulation (Sreevakki et al 2004;Jackson and Colmer 2005).…”

“…Previous studies have shown that N fertilization increases alkaloid content in yellow pine saplings, lupinus, hordeum, and tobacco, while N deficiency severely inhibits the synthesis of alkaloids (Sreevakki et al 2004;Wang et al 2010): alkaloids contain N atoms in their molecular structure, and their biosynthesis requires this element. While additional or excessive N is propitious to the synthesis of alkaloid and cyanogenic glycosides, a shortage thereof leads to terpene and phenol accumulation (Sreevakki et al 2004;Jackson and Colmer 2005). Interestingly, Wang et al (2007) demonstrated at the molecular level that allelopathic and non-allelopathic rice terpene metabolism-related genes have the same or similar responses to N content.…”

“…Drought stress with appropriate intensity and at indicated times favors the accumulation of secondary metabolites, but negative impacts are produced with inappropriate drought time and intensity (Pezeshki and Santos 1998;Elcan and Pezeshki 2002;Jackson and Colmer 2005;Sreevakki et al 2004). For example, in contrast to coptis plants, licorice has been shown to have relatively high medicinal ingredients when grown in properly dried soil.…”