Hairy root culture of Plumbago indica as a potential source for plumbagin

Abstract

Hairy roots of Plumbago indica were established at high frequency ( 90 %) by infecting leaf explants with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain ATCC 15834. The axenic root cultures were established under darkness in hormone-free liquid Murashige and Skoog medium containing 3 % sucrose. The highest plumbagin content was found to accumulate in roots at their exponential phase of growth. A low pH (4.6) and a low concentration of sucrose ( 1 %) were beneficial for root growth in darkness, while pH 5.6 and 3 % sucrose under continuous irradiance enhanced plumbagin accumulation in roots up to 7.8 mg g(-1)(d.m.). Direct shoot regeneration from hairy root culture was also achieved under continuous irradiance, thus indicated an easy way of obtaining transformed P. indica plants.