Our group has used Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation to develop hairy root cultures of peanut and American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) as bioproduction systems for stilbenoids and flavonoids, respectively. These polyphenols have been associated with health benefits affecting cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In order to increase their levels in plant systems, elicitation and metabolic engineering strategies were investigated. The combination of methyl jasmonate with cyclodextrin was the most effective elicitor treatment for both species. High levels of the bioactive, prenylated stilbenoids, arachidin-1 and arachidin-3, were induced in peanut. In skullcap, the non-elicited cultures produced the anticancer flavonoid wogonin. Interestingly, several putative phenolics were induced upon treatment with these elicitors. In addition, hairy roots of skullcap harboring a flavonoid-specific transcription factor (AtMYB12) were produced in efforts to increase the levels of wogonin. Hairy root cultures and these elicitation/metabolic engineering strategies provide a valuable tool for manipulating the levels of health-related compounds in plants.

Elicitation and metabolic engineering strategies to increase the levels of health-related polyphenols in root cultures

244th National Meeting (2012)

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