Abiotic Elicitation of the Explant Culture of Rheum palmatum L. by Heavy Metals

Overview

Elicitation-produced stress activates the defensive reactions of the plant or plant explant, whichresult, among others, in a change in the transcription of the genes coding the enzymes influencingbiosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The present paper investigated the effect of ions of heavymetals in concentrations od 1; 10, and 100 µM on the production of anthracene derivatives by theexplant culture of Rheum palmatum L. cultivated on Murashige-Skoog medium with an addition of10 mg.l-1 of α-naphthylacetic acid. The periods of application of elicitation were 6; 24; 48, and 168hours. It follows from the results that the applied abiotic elicitation positively influenced theproduction mainly in suspension culture. The maximal increase in the content of anthracenederivatives versus the control by 66 % was observed after 48-hour action of 10 µM concentration ofcadmium chloride. Aluminiumchloride produced the largest increase in the production after 6-hourapplication of a 100 µM concentration, when in comparison with the control culture the productionwas stimulated by 60 %.

Key words:
explant culture of Rheum palmatum L. – anthracene derivatives – abiotic elicitation– heavy metals