Planta Med 2014; 80 - PD132
DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1382553

Ecophysiological, biochemical and metabolic characterization of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. plantlets grown from synthetic seeds following in vitro storage

H Lata 1, S Chandra 1, YH Wang 1, MA ElSohly 1, 2, IA Khan 1, 3
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Synthetic seeds of Stevia rebaudiana were produced using nodal segments containing single axillary buds excised from in vitro proliferated shoots with 5% sodium alginate and 50 mM CaCl2. The synthetic seeds were stored at 5, 15 and 25oC for 8 months and re-generated under the tissue culture conditions (16-h photoperiod, 25oC) on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with thidiazuron (TDZ 0.2 mg L-1). Well-developed regenerated plantlets were successfully acclimatized inside the growing room and evaluated for biochemical and metabolic profiles. Our data shows that regenerated plants were highly comparable to the mother plant in terms of photosynthetic pigment content (chlorophyll and carotenoids) and, gas and water vapour exchange characteristics. Furthermore, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to characterize major secondary metabolites rebaudioside A and stevioside between the mother plant and regenerated plants. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in rebaudioside A and stevioside content between the mother and re-grown plants following eight months of in vitro storage, thereby confirming the clonal fidelity of Stevia rebaudiana plants.