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Aggregate cell suspension cultures of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. for triptolide, wilforgine, and wilforine production

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Abstract

The relationships between aggregate cell types, cell growth, and the triptolide, wilforgine, and wilforine content in aggregate cell suspension cultures of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. were examined. Aggregate cells larger than 2 mm grew quickly and constituted the majority of the white aggregates. The accumulation of triptolide was strongly correlated with the size of the aggregates and the length of the culture period. The aggregates 0.5–2 mm in diameter accumulated higher triptolide content than those with other sizes throughout the culture. However, the size of the aggregate cells did not significantly affect on the wilforgine and wilforine content. Two other kinds of aggregate cells, the brown and green aggregate cells, also formed in the suspension cultures. The smallest aggregates (0.1–0.5 mm) had a lower biomass and growth rate and had more chloroplasts and higher alkaloid content. The results of this study can be used to improve the selection process for the mass production of triptolide, wilforgine, and wilforine from cell suspension cultures.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National 863 project (2011AA10A202-1) and the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (No. 200903052).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Center of Biorational Pesticides, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi Province, China

    Guo-peng Miao, Chuan-shu Zhu, Jun-tao Feng, Juan Han, Xiao-Wei Song & Xing Zhang

  2. Biopesticide Technology and Engineering Center, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi Province, China

    Chuan-shu Zhu, Jun-tao Feng & Xing Zhang

Authors
  1. Guo-peng Miao
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  2. Chuan-shu Zhu
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  3. Jun-tao Feng
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  4. Juan Han
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  5. Xiao-Wei Song
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  6. Xing Zhang
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Correspondence to Xing Zhang.

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Guo-peng Miao and Chuan-shu Zhu contributed equally to this work.

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Miao, Gp., Zhu, Cs., Feng, Jt. et al. Aggregate cell suspension cultures of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. for triptolide, wilforgine, and wilforine production. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 112, 109–116 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-012-0211-0

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