Production of Dihydroxylated Betalains and Dopamine in Cell Suspension Cultures of Celosia argentea var. plumosa

Abstract

Betalains are plant pigments of hydrophilic nature with demonstrated chemopreventive potential in cancer cell lines and animal models. Among the betalains, those containing an aromatic moiety with two free hydroxyl groups possess the strongest antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities. The betaxanthins dopaxanthin and miraxanthin V and the betacyanins betanidin and decarboxy-betanidin are the only natural betalains with catecholic substructures. These four pigments have been produced in cell cultures established from hypocotyls of the plant Celosia argentea. Two stable and differentially colored cell lines, yellow and red, were maintained on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with the plant growth regulators 6-benzylaminopurine (6.66 μM) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (6.79 μM). Derived suspension cultures showed increased production of dihydroxylated betalains in the cells and secreted to the medium with a maximum reached after 8 days of culture. In addition, precursor molecules betalamic acid and dopamine, with content up to 42.08 mg/g dry weight, were also obtained. The joint presence of the bioactive betalains together with the production of dopamine and betalamic acid show the ability of cell cultures of C. argentea to become a stable source of valuable phytochemicals.

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

“…Regarding the consumption of total sugars, an abrupt decrease in the sugar content was observed until day six, but the biomass increased; the remainder of the sugar was stable after day 14 ( Figure 2 ), perhaps due to the consumption of nutrients and lack of oxygen in the medium [ 30 , 31 ].…”

“…cell suspension cultures, in which the capsaicin compound reached a maximum production of 567.4-µg g −1 DW at 25 days [ 31 ]. On the other hand, in Celosia cristata cell suspension cultures, betalaine production was observed at the beginning of the exponential phase and then decreased, remaining stable during the exponential and stationary phases [ 30 ].…”

Scaled‐up biotechnological production of individual betalains in a microbial system

“…To date, obtaining betalains and purifying them from whole plants have depended directly on availability throughout the year and on environmental variables that affect their production (Khan et al ., ). Other methods used are by a semi‐synthesis method, which requires obtaining betalamic acid from the degradation of betanin (Gandía‐Herrero et al ., ), or the production of betalains in plant cell cultures (Guadarrama‐Flores et al ., ; Milech et al ., ; Henarejos‐Escudero et al ., ). However, the main problem these techniques present is their low efficiency in the production of pure betalains.…”

Light Emission in Betalains: From Fluorescent Flowers to Biotechnological Applications

“…Macromolecules condensed with one molecule of betalamic acid become fluorescent in a tagging procedure suitable for proteins in solution and in electrophoresis gels (E) [42]. Increased production of betalains in plant cell bioreactors can be specifically and easily followed through fluorescence (F) [77]. Fluorescence of betaxanthins is a suitable output signal for virtually any biosensor provided that betalamic acid production is engineered (G) [90].…”

“…The use of fluorescence as an imaging technique to identify the presence of betaxanthins in plant tissue has now been extended to betalain-producing cell cultures. This is the case of cell lines developed from C. argentea [77]. Production of the highly antioxidant diphenolic betaxanthins derived from L-DOPA and dopamine was readily followed by the presence of yellow coloration and green fluorescence with blue light stimulation under the same systems developed for tissue visualization.…”