Efficient elicitation of ginsenoside biosynthesis in cell cultures of Panax notoginseng by using self-chemically-synthezised jasmonates

A series of fluorine and hydroxyl containing jasmonate derivatives, which were chemically synthesized in our institute, were investigated for their effects on the biosynthesis and heterogeneity of ginsenosides in suspension cultures of Panax notoginseng cells. Compared to the control (without addition of elicitors), 100 μM of each of the jasmonate was added on day 4 to the suspension cultures of P. notoginseng cells. It was observed that, jasmonates greatly enhanced the ginsenoside content and the ratio of Rb group to Rg group (i.e. (Rb₁ + Rd)/(Rg₁ + Re)) in the P. notoginseng cells. Some of the synthetic jasmonates, such as pentafluoropropyl jasmonate (PFPJA), 2-hydroxyethyl jasmonate (HEJA) and 2-hydroxyethoxyethyl jasmonate (HEEJA), could promote the ginsenoside content to 2.55 ± 0.11, 3.65 ± 0.13 and 2.94 ± 0.06 mg/100 mg DW, respectively, compared to that of 0.64 ± 0.06 mg/100 mg DW for the control and 2.17 ± 0.04 mg/100 mg DW by the commercially available methyl jasmonate (MJA); and they could change the respective Rb:Rg ratio to 1.60 ± 0.04, 1.87 ± 0.01 and 1.56 ± 0.05, compared to that of 0.47 ± 0.01 for the control and 1.42 ± 0.06 by MJA. The results suggest that suitable esterification of MJA with fluorine or hydroxyl group could increase the elicitation activity to induce plant secondary metabolism. The information obtained from this study is useful for hyper-production of heterogeneous products by plant cell cultures.