The effects of elicitation on the expression of key enzyme genes and on production of tropane alkaloids in Anisodus acutangulus plant

Tropane alkaloids (TAs) including hyoscyamine, anisodamine, anisodine and scopolamine are widely used as anticholinergic agents, which act on the parasympathetic nervous system, and their clinical demands are increasing rapidly. Anisodus acutangulus is a solanaceous perennial plant that is endemic to China with good potential for TA production and classified as an endangered species in China. Therefore there is a need to improve the TA production in this resource plant by biology methods. In our research, three different important elicitors including methyl jasmonate (MJ), yeast elicitor (YE) and abscisic acid (ABA) were used to study their effects on TA production, and genes expressions in A. acutangulus plant under each treatment were examined. The results revealed that TA production was induced by all the three treatments. However, its quantity varies with inducers used. The effect induced by MJ and YE were significant, while the effect induced by ABA was not obviously. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the relationship between TA production and genes expression profile induced by different elicitors in cultivated A. acutangulus plant, which should provide some useful information on how to improve TA production with the cultivated A. acutangulus plant in the near future.