Stimulation of artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua hairy roots by oligogalacturonides

Abstract

The different fractions of oligogalacturonides (OGA) from polygalacturonic acid by pectinase hydrolysate have been partially purified using column chromatography of Sephadex G-10. The isolated fraction OGA2 (degree of polymerization, DP = 4.57) was found to stimulate the accumulation of
artemisinin in Artemisia annua hairy roots. When hairy roots of 16-day old cultures were exposed to the OGA elicitor (60 g/mL) for 4 days, the maximum production of artemisinin reached 11.3 mg/L, a 55.2% increase over the control. OGA could induce H2O2 production in hairy root culture as one of early defense events. Moreover, the OGA-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) were involved in stimulating the artemisinin biosynthesis in the hairy roots. This is the first report on the stimulation of artemisinin production in hairy roots by an oligogalacturonide elicitor.