Metabolic profiling, in vitro propagation, and genetic assessment of the endangered rare plant Anarrhinum pubescens

Background Anarrhinum pubescens Fresen. (Plantaginaceae) is a rare plant, endemic to the Saint Catherine area, of South Sinai, Egypt. Earlier studies have reported the isolation of cytotoxic and anti-cholinesterase iridoid glucosides from the aerial parts of the plant. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical profiling of the wild plant shoots as well as establish efficient protocols for in vitro plant regeneration and proliferation with further assessment of the genetic stability of the in vitro regenerated plants. Results Twenty-seven metabolites have been identified in wild plant shoots using the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The metabolites include alkaloids, amino acids, carbohydrates, organic acids, vitamins, and a phenol. In vitro propagation of the plant was carried out through nodal cutting-micropropagation and leaf segment-direct organogenesis. The best results were obtained when nodal cutting explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium with Gamborg B5 vitamins supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (1.0 mg/L) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (0.05 mg/L), which gave a shoot formation capacity of 100% and a mean number of shoots of 27.67 ± 1.4/explant. These shoots were successfully rooted and transferred to the greenhouse and the survival rate was 75%. Genetic fidelity evaluation of the micropropagated clones was carried out using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. Jaccard’s similarity coefficient indicated a similarity as high as 98% and 95% from RAPD and ISSR markers, respectively. Conclusions This study provides the chemical profiling of the aerial part of Anarrhinum pubescens. Moreover, in vitro regeneration through different tissue culture techniques has been established for mass propagation of the plant, and the genetic fidelity of the in vitro regenerated plants was confirmed as well. Our work on the in vitro propagation of A. pubescens will be helpful in ex situ conservation and identification of bioactive metabolites.