<i>Lithospermum erythrorhizon</i> cell cultures: Present and future aspects

Abstract

Lithospermum erythrorhizon cell cultures have been used to produce plant secondary metabolites, as well as in biosynthetic studies. Shikonin, a representative secondary metabolite of L. erythrorhizon, was first produced industrially by dedifferentiated cell cultures in the 1980s. This culture system has since been used in research on various plant secondary metabolites. Other boraginaceaeous plant species, including Arnebia, Echium, Onosma and Alkanna, have been shown to produce shikonin, and studies have assessed shikonin regulation, including transgene expression, in these plants. This review summarizes current knowledge of shikonin production by L. erythrorhizon cell and hairy root cultures, including the historical aspect of large-scale production, and discusses future biochemical and biological research using this species.

CYP76B74 Catalyzes the 3′′-Hydroxylation of Geranylhydroquinone in Shikonin Biosynthesis

“…Arnebia euchroma, a perennial herbaceous boraginaceaeous plant, is found in Pamirs, Tian-Shan Mountains, Himalayas, and in western Tibet at an altitudinal range of 3,700 to 4,200 m above sea level (Manjkhola et al, 2005). A. euchroma is an important commodity in food, cosmetics, and modern pharmaceutical industries, mostly due to its high content of red naphthoquinone pigments (shikonin derivatives) in the root bark (cork layers; Papageorgiou et al, 1999;Yazaki, 2017). Recent studies have demonstrated that shikonin derivatives exhibit diverse biological activities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer activities, which endow them with a high potential for use in drug development (Papageorgiou et al, 2006;Andújar et al, 2013).…”

“…www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.18.01056 employed in the study of shikonin biosynthesis and its regulation (Widhalm and Rhodes, 2016;Yazaki, 2017).…”

De Novo Transcriptome Assembly and Characterization of Lithospermum officinale to Discover Putative Genes Involved in Specialized Metabolites Biosynthesis

“…In the L. officinale transcriptome assembly annotation database, 511 unigenes were annotated as 17 out of 30 enzymes (56.66 %) from phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway. Phenylpropanoid metabolite pathway provides precursors for the biosynthesis of shikonin, lithospermic acid, rosmarinic acid, and chlorogenic acid, among others [26,27]. Other key KEGG pathways with over 50 % of their enzymes being assigned to the unigenes of L. officinale included alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, seleno-compound metabolism, and flavonoid biosynthesis (▶ Fig.…”

“…To gain an insight on the highly active biological processes in leaf, stem, and root of L. officinale, RNA-sequencing reads for each tissue were mapped on the de novo transcriptome assembly and unigene expression was measured in FPKM value. Among highly expressed unigenes (FPKM value > 50), 500 unigenes were common across all tissues, while 186, 333, and 346 unigenes were specific to the Zeatin biosynthesis (5) Monobactam biosynthesis (5) Valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis (8) Various types of N-glycan biosynthesis (13) Biotin metabolism (10) N-Glycan biosynthesis (18) One carbon pool by folate (14) Pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis (17) Flavonoid biosynthesis (13) Other glycan degradation (8) Selenocompound metabolism (11) Geraniol degradation (5) Arginine biosynthesis (21) Riboflavin metabolism (14) Aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis (22) Sphingolipid metabolism (16) Fatty acid elongation (10) Biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (11) Terpenoid backbone biosynthesis (27) Fatty acid biosynthesis (14) alpha-Linolenic acid metabolism (11) Citrate cycle (TCA cycle) (18) Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism (29) Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis (27) Inositol phosphate metabolism (25) Metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450 (8) Drug metabolism -cytochrome P450 (7)…”

Establishment of a Cell Suspension Culture of Ageratina pichinchensis (Kunth) for the Improved Production of Anti-Inflammatory Compounds

“…Numerous studies have shown that plant cell cultures could play an appropriate role in the constant and controlled production of bioactive compounds [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. For example, the production of the anticancer anthraquinone shikonin is obtained in 1–2% yield from the roots of the Asian plant Lithospermum erythrorhizon ; however, its production depends on the geographical distribution and climate, and in addition, the wild plant requires five–seven years of growth for its production, while cultivated plant cells can produce 12–20% [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Examples like this support the use of plant cells to produce value-added compounds.…”