The effect of nano elicitors on the expression of the genes involved in alkaloids biosynthetic pathway in Papaver orientale L. suspension culture.

Pharmacological properties of Papaver family plants referred to Benzylisoquinoline alkaloid (BIAs) production. The BIAs alkaloids are a diverse group of nitrogenous compounds which have a limited distribution among various plant species. In addition to their medicinal properties, they have a crucial role in the plant defense mechanisms. In the current study, the effects of elicitors including green silver nanoparticles, chemical silver nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, graphene coated with chemical silver nanoparticles, and combination of graphene and green silver nanoparticles were investigated on the relative expression of BIAs biosynthesis pathway genes (DBOX, COR, and T6ODM) in the Papaver orientale L. cell suspension of with the concentration of 50 mg/L at 48 and 72 h after the elicitor applications. There were significant changes in the relative expression of these genes due to elicitor applications. However, the highest transcriptional activity of DBOX and COR genes observed at 48 h after utilization of graphene coated with chemical silver nanoparticles with the values of 57.96 and 8.34 fold-change, respectively. While, there was an up-regulation of T6ODM gene in the combination application of graphene and Green silver nanoparticles (45.77 fold). These results suggested that the application of various elicitors in this plant could accompany by diverse changes in the expression of alkaloids biosynthetic genes, which depends on the toxicity level of elicitors and elicitors' mediated-activation of signaling paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]