Improved silymarin content in elicited multiple shoot cultures of Silybum marianum L.

Abstract

Silybum marianum L. extracts are being used as antihepatotoxic therapy for liver diseases. Silymarin is a polyphenolic flavonoid mixture isolated from milk thistle which is believed to be responsible for the plant's hepatoprotective action. Regeneration of Silybum marianum plants from shoot tip explants and assessment of their morphogenic potential, silymarin total concentration and its major constituents upon exposure to medium composition alteration and different elicitors' application was targeted. Different concentrations of NaCl, quercetin, gamma irradiation and dried fungal extracts were used to elicit silymarin production in the cultures. The chemical composition of silymarin and its total concentration was investigated through HPLC at all the experiment stages. Multiple shoots were recorded after 3 weeks of culture on MS medium containing various concentrations of BA and/or NAA. IAA was more effective than NAA and IBA in inducing robust roots in shoot cultures. The flowering plants recorded 20 % and 40 % of the total plants number in the multiplication and rooting stages respectively. The highest total silymarin concentration reached its peak with (10 Gy) gamma-irradiation to be 6.598 % dry weight in the in vitro regenerated shoot tip explants. The in vitro grown flowers showed 1.7 times more sylimarin productivity as compared to that of the wild grown congruent.

IMPROVEMENT OF SILYMARIN CONTENT IN CELL CULTURES OF Silybum marianum BY COPPER SULPHATE ELICITOR

“…In this regard, Khan et al [2013] found that seed incubation in complete darkness for 2 weeks significantly enhanced seed germination frequency in S. marianum. However, El Sherif et al [2013] reported that the cultures incubated under growth room conditions 22 ±2°C, 16 h photoperiod and light intensity of 4000 µ m -2 s -1 led to 90% germination when half-strength MS medium was used after four weeks from culture. The current results are suggested to be useful at commercial scale because using half-strength MS medium supplemented with 1.5% W/V sucrose plus the incubation in the darkness at room temperature reduce the production cost.…”

“…Otherwise, in vitro cultures were established from different explants include hypocotyl [Manaf et al 2009], leaf [Abbasi et al 2010] and cotyledon segments [Pourjabar et al 2012]. In this regard, El Sherif et al [2013] revealed that the germination of milk thistle seeds reached to 90% after four weeks on half-strength MS medium. Silybum marianum seeds incubation in darkness for two weeks and transference to 16 h light and 8 h dark positively improved the frequency of seed germination [Khan et al 2013].…”

“…Actually, many reports concerning the effect of various abiotic elicitors on sylimarin content of Silybum marianum in vitro culture have been published [Sánchez-Sampedro et al 2005, Madrid and Corchete 2010, El Sherif et al 2013] however, to our knowledge; the current is the first study concerning copper sulphate elicitation on silymarin induction in vitro. Therefore, this trial aimed to study the influence of various concentrations of copper sulphate as an abiotic elicitor on callus growth and biosynthesis of silymarin in callus cultures of Silybum marianum after different elicitation periods.…”

Genetically stable plants with boosted flavonoids content after in vitro regeneration of the endangered Capparis spinosa L

“…The medium was supplemented with 3% (w/v) sucrose, 6.0 g/L agar and one of the following chemical elicitors (Table 2), the pH was adjustedto 5.7 prior to autoclaving [15].…”

Plant derived antioxidants and antifibrotic drugs: past, present and future

“…This extract contains well-defined ingredients including silibinin. Owing to its hepato-tropism and the favorable characteristics under experimental conditions, silymarin has been recommended as a hepatoprotective agent for many types of acute and chronic liver diseases [12] . Silymarin stimulates hepatocyte RNA synthesis, acts as a radical-scavenger, and suppresses HSCs/myofibroblasts proliferation and collagen synthesis in vitro.…”