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. 2021 Jul 26;19(1):108.
doi: 10.1186/s43141-021-00210-6.

Metabolic profiling, in vitro propagation, and genetic assessment of the endangered rare plant Anarrhinum pubescens

Asmaa Abdelsalam  1 , Ehab Mahran  2   3 , Kamal Chowdhury  4 , Arezue Boroujerdi  2
Affiliations

Metabolic profiling, in vitro propagation, and genetic assessment of the endangered rare plant Anarrhinum pubescens

Asmaa Abdelsalam et al. J Genet Eng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Background: Anarrhinum pubescens Fresen. (Plantaginaceae) is a rare plant, endemic to the Saint Catherine area, of South Sinai, Egypt. Earlier studies have reported the isolation of cytotoxic and anti-cholinesterase iridoid glucosides from the aerial parts of the plant. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical profiling of the wild plant shoots as well as establish efficient protocols for in vitro plant regeneration and proliferation with further assessment of the genetic stability of the in vitro regenerated plants.

Results: Twenty-seven metabolites have been identified in wild plant shoots using the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The metabolites include alkaloids, amino acids, carbohydrates, organic acids, vitamins, and a phenol. In vitro propagation of the plant was carried out through nodal cutting-micropropagation and leaf segment-direct organogenesis. The best results were obtained when nodal cutting explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium with Gamborg B5 vitamins supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (1.0 mg/L) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (0.05 mg/L), which gave a shoot formation capacity of 100% and a mean number of shoots of 27.67 ± 1.4/explant. These shoots were successfully rooted and transferred to the greenhouse and the survival rate was 75%. Genetic fidelity evaluation of the micropropagated clones was carried out using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. Jaccard's similarity coefficient indicated a similarity as high as 98% and 95% from RAPD and ISSR markers, respectively.

Conclusions: This study provides the chemical profiling of the aerial part of Anarrhinum pubescens. Moreover, in vitro regeneration through different tissue culture techniques has been established for mass propagation of the plant, and the genetic fidelity of the in vitro regenerated plants was confirmed as well. Our work on the in vitro propagation of A. pubescens will be helpful in ex situ conservation and identification of bioactive metabolites.

Keywords: Anarrhinum pubescens; Callus culture; Genetic fidelity; In vitro propagation; Metabolic profiling; NMR spectroscopy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Anarrhinum pubescens wild plant
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
1H spectra of the polar extract of Anarrhinum pubescens
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Developmental stages of the in vitro propagation of Anarrhinum pubescens. A 4-week-old seedling (a), micropropagated shoots using BAP 1 mg/L + NAA 0.05 mg/L (b), organogenic shoots using BAP 0.05 mg/L + NAA 0.05 mg/L (c), rooted-shoots using MS-B5 with 0.1 IAA mg/L (d), 10-week-old greenhouse-acclimatized plantlets (e, f)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Adventitious rooting percentage on MS-B5 hormone free medium = HFM; MS-B5 with 0.1 IAA mg/L = IAA
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
DNA amplification profile of mother and in vitro propagated plants of A. pubescens generated by RAPD and ISSR primers. RAPD primer OPA-03 (a), RAPD primer OPI-07 (b), ISSR primer UBC-860A (c), and ISSR primer R(CA)7 (d). 1st lane is 1 kb DNA ladder, lane M-mother plant, lane 1–8 in vitro propagated plants
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References

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