Planta Med 2011; 77 - PB16
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282270

The challenges of Podophyllum tissue culture

CG Silva 1, MR Davey 2, JB Power 2
  • 1School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK; Divisão de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, CEP 30510–010, MG, Brasil;
  • 2School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK

Podophyllotoxin is obtained from the rhizomes and roots of wild populations of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle. This is a low-growing plant with a long juvenile phase, making the availability of this natural product limited (1). Demand for podophyllotoxin was created with the introduction of its semi-synthetic derivatives in cancer chemotherapy (2). The species is endangered in the Himalayan region (3) through over collecting and lack of organized cultivation (4). Efforts remain to facilitate the in vitro propagation (5, 6) of Podophyllum. In the present investigation on the tissue culture of P. hexandrum, seeds germinated within 35 to 40 days in moist, dark conditions, with in vitro grown seedlings being obtained either on 0.2 normal strength semi-solid B5 medium (7) or full-strength MS medium both lacking growth regulators. Although callus induction from root explants cultured on 0.5 normal strength B5 medium containing 1.0 mgl-1 2,4-D, 1.0 mgl-1 BAP and 1.0 mgl-1 GA3 was slow, tissue became embryogenic after sucessive subcultures. Embryogenic cell suspensions were established in the dark from root-derived callus, cultured in liquid MS medium containing 2,4-D and kinetin, at 2.0 mgl-1 and 0.25 mgl-1, respectively. Differentiation of somatic embryos and subsequent shoot formation occurred on either full-strength or half-strength MS medium with 0.45 mgl-1 BAP. Rooting of somatic embryo-derived plants was stimulated by the inclusion of 10-5 M lipo-oligosaccharide in the culture medium. A robust explant-to-plant micropropagation system for Podophyllum will reduce the pressure on wild resources and may offer an alternative source of podophyllotoxin production.

Acknowledgement: To RHAE/CNPq and Funed for their financial support to CGS, which is greatly appreciated.

References: 1. Choudhary DK et al. (1998)J Med Aromat Plant Sci 20: 1071–1073.

2. Farkya S et al. (2004) Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 65: 504–519.

3. Airi S et al. (1997) Plant Genet Resour Newsl 110: 20–34.

4. Nadeem M et al. (2000) Biol Conserv 92: 121–129.

5. Chakraborty A et al. (2010) Indian J Biotechnol 9: 217–220.

6. Silva CG (2000) Ph. D. Thesis. University of Nottingham. Nottingham, UK.

7. Heyenga AG et al. (1990) Plant Cell Rep 9: 382–385.