Neurofuzzy logic predicts a fine-tuning metabolic reprogramming on elicited Bryophyllum PCSCs guided by salicylic acid

Abstract

Novel approaches to the characterization of medicinal plants as biofactories have lately increased in the field of biotechnology. In this work, a multifaceted approach based on plant tissue culture, metabolomics, and machine learning was applied to decipher and further characterize the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds by eliciting cell suspension cultures from medicinal plants belonging to the Bryophyllum subgenus. The application of untargeted metabolomics provided a total of 460 phenolic compounds. The biosynthesis of 164 of them was significantly modulated by elicitation. The application of neurofuzzy logic as a machine learning tool allowed for deciphering the critical factors involved in the response to elicitation, predicting their influence and interactions on plant cell growth and the biosynthesis of several polyphenols subfamilies. The results indicate that salicylic acid plays a definitive genotype-dependent role in the elicitation of Bryophyllum cell cultures, while methyl jasmonate was revealed as a secondary factor. The knowledge provided by this approach opens a wide perspective on the research of medicinal plants and facilitates their biotechnological exploitation as biofactories in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical fields.

Impact of Elicitation on Plant Antioxidants Production in Taxus Cell Cultures

“…The injection volume was 12 µL, and each sample analysis was repeated twice (n = 6). For compound detection, the mass spectrometer operated in positive polarity and SCAN mode, and the extended dynamic range mode was set at 100–1200 m/z and a nominal resolution of 40,000 FWHM [ 14 ].…”

“…Once annotated, the compounds were filtered in relation to their abundance, only selecting those detected in 66.6% of the replicates within each treatment. The detected phenolic compounds were grouped into different families and subfamilies and quantified through calibration curves obtained with reference standards for each class, as previously indicated [ 14 ]. Tyrosol was selected as the reference standard of low-molecular-weight phenols (LMW), including alkylphenols, coumarins, phenylpropenes, quinones, tyrosols, and other phenolics.…”

“…Raw data obtained from metabolomic profiling were statistically analyzed and interpreted by the software tool Mass Profiler Professional v. 12.6 (Agilent technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) as previously described [ 14 ]. Briefly, the abundance of each compound was transformed into log2 values and normalized at the 75th percentile.…”

“…Additionally, in connection with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the large-scale production of bioactive compounds in plant cell-based biotechnological platforms is an efficient and eco-friendly process, due to rapid cell growth, controlled growing conditions, and easy scale-up [ 13 ]. Among the wide range of elicitors available, salicylic acid (SA) and the jasmonic acid analogue coronatine (COR), two compounds naturally involved in the regulation of plant growth and stress tolerance, have been extensively utilized for this purpose [ 14 ].…”

Bioactive Compounds from Kalanchoe Genus Potentially Useful for the Development of New Drugs

“…The authors observed that the combination of both factors resulted in an increase of more than 100% of the total flavonoid content [ 151 ]. Lastly, nutrient stress, salicylic acid, and cyclodextrin have also been applied as elicitors in Kalanchoe plants and cell suspension cultures, with the prediction of the best conditions by using new tools of machine learning [ 152 , 153 , 154 ].…”