Abstract
A procedure for producing somatic embryos enriched with dibenzyl trisulfide (DTS) using a hormone-dependent culture system is reported for Petiveria alliacea L. (Guinea hen weed). Leaf explants were cultured on a Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with a range of naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) concentrations and a fixed concentration of benzyladenine (BAP) at 11.0 μM and sucrose or glucose at 30 g l−1. Leaf explants cultured on all media types started to form callus at the cut surfaces of the discs 10–14 d after initiation. The type of sugar used influenced average fresh weight, the propensity to form roots, as well as the embryogenic response. The highest mean fresh weight (337.7 ± 26.18 mg) and mean root number (23.7 ± 1.69) was produced on media enriched with sucrose and supplemented with 53.7 μM NAA and 11.0 μM BAP. An ethanol extract of rhizogenic/embryogenic callus or somatic embryos was subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography analysis, which revealed the presence of DTS in both extracts. UV spectral analysis and the use of standard quantitation procedures showed that the quantity of DTS in the somatic embryo extract, at 0.16% (w/v), was approximately 30-fold higher than in rhizogenic/embryogenic callus (0.0055% w/v) of similar fresh weight. These results indicate that it is possible to biosynthesize approximately 6 mg of natural DTS from 3,808 mg of fresh somatic embryos within 10 wk from less than three leaf explants.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support received from Jamaica Broilers Group of Companies and the Office of Graduate Studies and Research at The University of the West Indies is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to Messers Dennis Bailey and Michael Henry (UWI) for material and technical assistance during the extraction process and to Dr. Paul Maragh for allowing us to use the instruments in the lab he supervises. We are also grateful to the College of Agriculture, Science and Education for allowing the lead author time off from work to undertake this research work at The Biotechnology Centre, UWI Mona.
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Webster, S.A., Mitchell, S.A., Gallimore, W.A. et al. Biosynthesis of Dibenzyl Trisulfide (DTS) from somatic embryos and rhizogenous/embryogenic callus derived from Guinea hen weed (Petiveria alliacea L.) leaf explants. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 44, 112–118 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-008-9125-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-008-9125-2