Sustainable Production of Ajuga Bioactive Metabolites Using Cell Culture Technologies: A Review
Popova E. Titova M. Tynykulov M. Zakirova R.P. Kulichenko I. Prudnikova O. Nosov A.
March 2023MDPI
Nutrients
2023#15Issue 5
The genus Ajuga (Lamiaceae) is rich in medicinally important species with biological activities ranging from anti-inflammatory, antitumor, neuroprotective, and antidiabetic to antibacterial, antiviral, cytotoxic, and insecticidal effects. Every species contains a unique and complex mixture of bioactive metabolites—phytoecdysteroids (PEs), iridoid glycosides, withanolides, neo-clerodane terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, and other chemicals with high therapeutic potential. Phytoecdysteroids, the main compounds of interest, are natural anabolic and adaptogenic agents that are widely used as components of dietary supplements. Wild plants remain the main source of Ajuga bioactive metabolites, particularly PEs, which leads to frequent overexploitation of their natural resources. Cell culture biotechnologies offer a sustainable approach to the production of vegetative biomass and individual phytochemicals specific for Ajuga genus. Cell cultures developed from eight Ajuga taxa were capable of producing PEs, a variety of phenolics and flavonoids, anthocyanins, volatile compounds, phenyletanoid glycosides, iridoids, and fatty acids, and demonstrated antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities. The most abundant PEs in the cell cultures was 20-hydroxyecdysone, followed by turkesterone and cyasterone. The PE content in the cell cultures was comparable or higher than in wild or greenhouse plants, in vitro-grown shoots, and root cultures. Elicitation with methyl jasmonate (50–125 µM) or mevalonate and induced mutagenesis were the most effective strategies that stimulated cell culture biosynthetic capacity. This review summarizes the current progress in cell culture application for the production of pharmacologically important Ajuga metabolites, discusses various approaches to improve the compound yield, and highlights the potential directions for future interventions.
20-hydroxyecdysone , anthocyanins , biomass accumulation , callus , elicitation , iridoids , phytoecdysteroids , suspension cell culture , turkesterone
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K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya 35, Moscow, 127276, Russian Federation
Faculty of Natural Sciences, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Munaytpasov 13, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
S.Yu. Yunusov Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, M. Ulugbek 77, Tashkent, 100170, Uzbekistan
Biology Faculty, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Russian Federation
K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology of Russian Academy of Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences
S.Yu. Yunusov Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances
Biology Faculty
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