Production of ginseng saponins: elicitation strategy and signal transductions

Abstract

Ginseng is one of the most important plants in oriental medicine. The pharmacological effects of this medicinal herb are mostly correlated to the major bioactive triterpene saponin, called ginsenoside. Due to the long cultivation period of ginseng and increased ginsenoside level in aged root, we need to develop strategies to increase ginseng productivity in cell and tissue culture in a faster way. Elicitation is already considered to improve the yield of this valuable secondary metabolite; especially, different types, timings, and durations of elicitation could affect the ginsenoside production and heterogeneity. Activation of ginsenoside biosynthetic genes and ginsenoside accumulation mediated by elicitor-induced signaling molecules would be helpful for commercial production of individual ginsenosides. Jasmonic acid is the well-known signaling molecule which mainly involved in ginsenoside accumulation. Ca(2+) spiking and reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and ethylene production are other messengers which mediate production of ginsenoside. This review highlights the elicitation strategies for production of the ginsenoside based on the principle of putative signal transduction pathways.

Reactive oxygen species and hormone signaling cascades in endophytic bacterium induced essential oil accumulation in Atractylodes lancea

“…The inducible synthesis of plant secondary metabolites begins with an elicitor signal being perceived by its cognate receptor on the plasma membrane (Rahimi et al 2015). Oxidative burst is one of the earliest plant responses to microbes (Nanda et al 2010).…”

PgLOX6encoding a lipoxygenase contributes to jasmonic acid biosynthesis and ginsenoside production inPanax ginseng

“…Subsequently, head-to-head assembly of two farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) molecules produces a C30 molecule, squalene, which is converted to ( S )-2,3-oxidosqualene (a common precursor of sterols) by the action of squalene synthase (SS) and squalene epoxidase (SE). Then ( S )-2,3-oxidosqualene undergoes additional cyclization, hydroxylation, and glycosylation by the enzymes dammarenediol synthase (DDS), cytochrome P450 and glycosyltransferase (GT), respectively (Kim et al , 2015; Rahimi et al , 2015 a ). …”

PgLOX6 encoding a lipoxygenase contributes to jasmonic acid biosynthesis and ginsenoside production in Panax ginseng

“…The fundamental pharmacologically active ingredient of ginseng, ginsenoside, has wide beneficial activity (Radad et al, 2006). Activation of ginsenoside biosynthetic genes and ginsenoside accumulation are mediated by elicitor-induced signaling molecules (Rahimi et al, 2015a). JA is the well-known signaling molecule that has been shown to be mainly involved in ginsenoside accumulation.…”

“…There are several studies showing that the manipulation of endogenous JA level can alter secondary metabolism, which can be achieved through an elicitation strategy (Rahimi et al, 2015a) or by genetic engineering of JA pathway genes. A previous study (Lu et al, 2014) demonstrated that increased endogenous JA could significantly promote the biosynthesis of the sesquiterpenoid artemisinin in AaAOCoverexpression transgenic Artemisia annua.…”

“…Subsequently, head-tohead assembly of two farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) molecules produces a C30 molecule, squalene, which is converted to (S)-2,3-oxidosqualene (a common precursor of sterols) by the action of squalene synthase (SS) and squalene epoxidase (SE). Then (S)-2,3-oxidosqualene undergoes additional cyclization, hydroxylation, and glycosylation by the enzymes dammarenediol synthase (DDS), cytochrome P450 and glycosyltransferase (GT), respectively Rahimi et al, 2015a).…”