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Anisomeles malabarica, the commonly called "Malabar catmint" is a wild tropical plant belonging to the family Lamiaceae. Traditionally this plant is used as mosquito repellent, snakebite antidote and to treat fever and gastrointestinal discomfort by the people of South India. It is an important endemic plant used in the indigenous medicine systems of India such as Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani in various formulations. The rich phytochemistry of A. malabarica includes cembrane terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, flavones, glycosides, and other bioactive compounds contributing for its medicinal potential. Extracts and metabolites of A. malabarica shows wide range of significant pharmacological effects in combating cancer cells through apoptosis, inhibiting viral agents (HPV and SARS-CoV-2), immune regulation, and DNA protection. The phytocompounds of A. malabarica were also reported for anti-malarial, anti-rheumatic, anti-inflammatory, anti-epileptic, anti-diabetic, anti-parasitic activity, and hepatoprotective properties. This systematic review summarizes the therapeutic properties with botanical characteristics, ethnobotany, and phytochemistry of A. malabarica. It also documents the ingrained traditional use of A. malabarica in religious custom in southern states of India. Therefore further exploration of this promising medicinal herb for its metabolites and ethnobotanical records would possibly support the development of modern medicine systems and provides insights for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Podophyllum hexandrum is a popular medicinal plant endemic to Himalayas. In the present investigation, we report an efficient mass propagation protocol and Podophyllotoxin (PTOX) production in in vitro-derived plants of P. hexandrum, cultured on MS medium containing various plant growth regulators and polyamines. A combination of BA (1.5 mg/L), IAA (0.2 mg/L) and spermidine (20 mg/L) produced the highest number of multiple shoots per explant (23 shoots) after 6 weeks of culture; the regenerated shoots were elongated on the same medium. The elongated-shoots were rooted on root induction medium (half strength MS medium) supplemented with IBA (1.5 mg/L) and putrescine (15 mg/L). The rooted plantlets were successfully hardened and acclimatized with a survival rate of 68% in the greenhouse. The highest content of PTOX (4.23 mg/g DW) was recorded in in vitro derived roots followed by leaves when compared to field-grown parent plants. The present system offers the possibility to use in vitro culture techniques for mass propagation and PTOX production for commercial utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recalcitrant nature of black gram is the major constraint of in vitro regeneration and agrobacterium- mediated genetic transformation, to overcome this, a productive shoot regeneration protocol has been achieved in black gram cultivar T9 using 7-day old cotyledonary node explants excised from in vitro- raised black gram seedlings using meta-topolin. An aromatic cytokinin, meta-topolin along with BA (1.5+0.5 mg/L) in 0.50 strength MS medium with 1.5% (w/v) sucrose exhibited a maximum number of multiple shoots (32.0±0.37 shoots/explant) at the end of 6 weeks of culture. The shoots were elongated in (6.40±0.50 cm/shoot) in MS medium supplemented with GA3 (2.0 mg/L). A maximum number of roots (9.60±0.50/shoot) and root length (11.20±0.73 cm/shoot) were obtained in combination with ß-cyclodextrin (a cyclic oligosaccharide; 1.5 mg/L) and IBA (1.5 mg/L). The rooted plantlets were hardened and acclimatized with least mortality rate of 2% in pot mixture consisting red soil:sand:farm yard manure (FYM) (2:1:1) and grown in green house with 85% relative humidity. Ploidy levels were analyzed using flow cytometry which confessed the chromosomal stability in invitro raised plants similar to parent plants. This protocol may be useful for producing transgenic black gram with desirable agro-traits in Indian cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the biosynthesis of major and minor withanolides of Withania somnifera in cell suspension culture using shake-flask culture and bioreactor by exploiting elicitation and precursor feeding strategies. Elicitors like cadmium chloride, aluminium chloride and chitosan, precursors such as cholesterol, mevalonic acid and squalene were examined. Maximum total withanolides detected [withanolide A (7606.75 mg), withanolide B (4826.05 mg), withaferin A (3732.81 mg), withanone (6538.65 mg), 12 deoxy withanstramonolide (3176.63 mg), withanoside IV (2623.21 mg) and withanoside V (2861.18 mg)] were achieved in the combined treatment of chitosan (100 mg/l) and squalene (6 mM) along with 1 mg/l picloram, 0.5 mg/l KN, 200 mg/l L-glutamine and 5% sucrose in culture at 4 h and 48 h exposure times respectively on 28th day of culture in bioreactor. We obtained higher concentrations of total withanolides in shake-flask culture (2.13-fold) as well as bioreactor (1.66-fold) when compared to control treatments. This optimized protocol can be utilized for commercial level production of withanolides from suspension culture using industrial bioreactors in a short culture period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is a versatile medicinal plant extensively utilized for production of phytochemical drug preparations. The roots and whole plants are traditionally used in Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha medicines, as well as in homeopathy. Several studies provide evidence for an array of pharmaceutical properties due to the presence of steroidal lactones named "withanolides." A number of research groups have focused their attention on the effects of biotic and abiotic elicitors on withanolide production using cultures of adventitious roots, cell suspensions, shoot suspensions, and hairy roots in large-scale bioreactor for producing withanolides. This chapter explains the detailed procedures for induction and establishment of hairy roots from leaf explants of W. somnifera, proliferation and multiplication of hairy root cultures, estimation of withanolide productivity upon elicitation with salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate, and quantification of major withanolides by HPLC. The protocol herein described could be implemented for large-scale cultivation of hairy root biomass to improve withanolide production.

We studied the influence of sucrose and nitrogen concentration on in vitro flowering and fruit setting in elongated shoots of Withania somnifera. BA (1.5 mg/l) and IAA (0.3 mg/l) on MS medium supplemented with 4% sucrose showed 67% of in vitro flower induction frequency, 9 flowers/shoot, 4 fruits/shoot and 11 seeds/fruit in elongated-shoots. Different concentrations of nitrogen sources (L-glutamine, adenine sulphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate 5-25 mg/l) were tested in combination with 4% sucrose and BA at 1.5 mg/l and IAA at 0.3 mg/l. Highest number of flowers (20 flowers/shoot; 2.2-fold) and fruits (16 fruits/shoot; 3.39-fold), fruit setting (12 seeds/fruit; 1.08-fold) at a higher frequency (88%) were achieved on MS medium augmented with 15 mg/l adenine sulphate with same PGRs and sucrose concentration. The maximum production of withanolide A (0.68 mg/g DW) and withanolide B (0.77 mg/g DW) was recorded in in vitro fruits. Highest accumulation of withaferin A (2 mg/g DW) was quantified from in vitro flowers, whereas, it was low in in vitro fruits (0.49 mg/g DW withaferin A). However, withanone (0.23 mg/g DW) was found accumulated uniformly in both in vitro flowers and fruits compared to control.