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The effects of a number of different elicitors on asiaticoside production in whole plant cultures of Centella asiatica were studied, including yeast extract, CdCl(2), CuCl(2) and methyl jasmonate (MJ). Only MJ and yeast extract stimulated asiaticoside production--1.53 and 1.41-fold, respectively. Maximum asiaticoside production was achieved following treatment with 0.1 mM MJ (116.8 mg/l). The highest asiaticoside production (342.72 mg/l) was obtained after 36 days of elicitation in cultures treated with 0.1 mM MJ and 0.025 mg/l 1-phenyl-3-(1,2,3-thidiazol-5-yl)urea (TDZ). Interestingly, MJ not only stimulated the production of asiaticoside but also had an important role in the senescence of C. asiatica. Although asiaticoside content did not change when TDZ was added to medium containing an elicitor, TDZ did increase shoot growth of C. asiatica. We discuss the interactive roles of MJ and TDZ in secondary metabolic production and biomass in whole plants of C. asiatica.

Farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) plays an essential role in organ development in plants. However, FPS has not previously been identified as a key regulatory enzyme in triterpene biosynthesis. To elucidate the functions of FPS in triterpene biosynthesis, C. asiatica was transformed with a construct harboring Panax ginseng FPS (PgFPS)-encoding cDNA coupled to the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Higher levels of CaDDS (C. asiatica dammarenediol synthase) and CaCYS (C. asiatica cycloartenol synthase) mRNA were detected in all hairy root lines overexpressing when compared with the controls. However, no differences were detected in any expression of the CaSQS (C. asiatica squalene synthase) gene. In particular, the upregulation of CaDDS transcripts suggests that FPS may result in alterations in triterpene biosynthesis capacity. Squalene contents in the T17, T24, and T27 lines were increased to 1.1-, 1.3- and 1.5-fold those in the controls, respectively. The total sterol contents in the T24 line were approximately three times higher than those of the controls. Therefore, these results indicated that FPS performs a regulatory function in phytosterol biosynthesis. To evaluate the contribution of FPS to triterpene biosynthesis, we applied methyl jasmonate as an elicitor of hairy roots expressing PgFPS. The results of HPLC analysis revealed that the content of madecassoside and asiaticoside in the T24 line was transiently increased by 1.15-fold after 14 days of MJ treatment. This result may indicate that FPS performs a role not only in phytosterol regulation, but also in triterpene biosynthesis.

Transformed root ("hairy root") cultures have been shown to be a good model for the study of many secondary metabolites. However, economically important compounds such as asiaticoside and madecassoside are produced in insignificant amounts in the root of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban. To overcome this problem, C. asiatica was transformed using Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain R1000 that harbors pCAMBIA1302 encoding the hygromycin phosphotransferase (hpt) and green fluorescence protein (mgfp5) genes and the hairy culture was coupled with elicitation technique. Hairy roots were obtained at a frequency of up to 14.1% from a tissue junction between the leaf and petiole. Abundant hairy roots were observed when co-cultivation of the plant with A. rhizogenes was done for 7 days (36.1%). Transformation was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analyses. Five weeks after inoculation, no asiaticoside was detected in the hairy root samples. However, when 0.1 mM methyl jasmonate (MJ) was applied as an elicitor to the culture medium for 3 weeks, a large quantity of asiaticoside was generated (7.12 mg/g, dry wt). In the case of gene expression, 12 h after MJ treatment the expression of the CabAS (C. asiatica putative beta-amyrin synthase) gene in the hairy roots is significantly different from that of the control and this level of transcripts was maintained for 14 days. Our results showed that production of C. asiatica hairy roots could be optimized and the resulting cultures could be elicited with MJ treatment for enhanced production of asiaticoside.

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A homology-based PCR method was used to clone a cDNA encoding oxidosqualene cyclase from Centella asiatica, which produces a large quantity of triterpene saponins such as asiaticoside and madecassoside. Sequence analysis of one clone found sequences related to beta-amyrin synthase. An open reading frame in the full-length clone was named CabAS (Centella asiatica putative beta-amyrin synthase). On the basis of amino acid sequence, CabAS appears to be an enzyme (beta-amyrin synthase) that synthesizes beta-amyrin. Southern analysis showed that the C. asiatica genome contains one copy of the CabAS gene. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the CabAS gene is expressed in leaves with no detectable transcript in other plant tissues, consistent with the organ-specific accumulation of the asiaticoside. Up-regulation of expression of CabAS by methyl jasmonate in leaves was also demonstrated.

We have cloned and characterized a gene for squalene synthase (SQS) from Centella asiatica (1_.) Urban, a species that produces a large quantity of triterpene saponins such as asiaticoside and madecassoside. Its full-length cDNA clone was isolated by RACE PCR. The sequence of pSQS contains an open reading frame of 1248 nucleotides, which code for 416 amino acids with a molecular mass of 47.3 kDa. Southern analysis revealed that one copy might exist in the C. asiatlca genome. We also determined that 0.1 mM methyl jasmonate was sufficient to up-regulate those levels of CaSQS mRNA.

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