Biotechnology of the medicinal plant Rhazya stricta: A little investigated member of the Apocynaceae family

  • Amir Akhgari*
  • , Kirsi-Marja Oksman-Caldentey
  • , Heiko Rischer
  • *Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview Articlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Rhazya stricta Decne. (Apocynaceae) is an important medicinal plant that is widely distributed in the Middle East and Indian sub-continent. It produces a large number of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) some of which possess important pharmacological properties. However, the yields of these compounds are very low. Establishment of a reliable, reproducible and efficient transformation method and induction of hairy roots system is a vital prerequisite for application of biotechnology in order to improve secondary metabolite yields. In the present review, recent biotechnological attempts and advances in TIAs production through transformed hairy root cultures in R. stricta are reviewed to draw the attention to its metabolic engineering potential.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)829-840
    JournalBiotechnology Letters
    Volume39
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017
    MoE publication typeA2 Review article in a scientific journal

    Funding

    This study was financially supported by The Graduate School in Pharmaceutical Research (GSPR) and The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007–2013 under Grant Agreement Number 222716-SmartCell (to Kirsi-Marja Oksman-Caldentey).

    Keywords

    • alkaloids
    • biotechnology
    • lipids
    • metabolic engineering
    • metabolites
    • polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
    • agrobacterium rhizogenes
    • hairy roots
    • medicinal plants
    • plant secondary metabolites
    • rhazya stricta
    • terpenoid indole alkaloids
    • transgenic roots

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