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Salvia miltiorrhiza (commonly known in China as Danshen) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, and it is applied in the treatment of many diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease. Commercial propagation of Danshen is carried out either through seed germination or in vitro regeneration (micropropagation). However, it is not clear if the different propagation methods affect the chemical properties of the derived plants. In the present study, we first established a highly efficient tissue culture system for Danshen propagation. The addition of 1.0 mg·L−1 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 mg·L−1 α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) to Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium was optimal for inducing adventitious shoots; the highest rate of rooting was recorded on MS medium with 0.2 mg·L−1 NAA, on which the survival rate of transplanted plantlets was 95%. Next, we assessed antioxidant properties in the different tissues of plants of the same age, derived from micropropagation or seed germination, and measured tanshinone, total phenol, and total flavonoid contents. Our results showed that tissues of micropropagated plantlets had higher antioxidant activities than tissues of seed-derived plantlets; the micropropagated plantlets also had higher tanshinone contents in their roots. Thus, a rapid and efficient micropropagation system was established for Danshen, and it can be used for cultivating this plant to obtain therapeutic compounds.
In the present study, the effect of plant growth regulators (PGRs) on callus regeneration, adventitious shoot differentiation, and root formation of Haworthia turgida Haw. was investigated. The greatest callus induction percentage (95.6%) was achieved with leaf explants inoculated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 1.0 mg·L−1 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 mg·L−1 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), and this callus induction medium supplemented with 2.5 mg·L−1 thidiazuron (TDZ) was optimal for callus proliferation. The maximum number of shoots (25.7) was obtained when the callus was cultured on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg·L−1 BA and 0.2 mg·L−1 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). The highest number of roots per shoot (6.2) and highest rooting frequency (82.0%) were obtained when adventitious shoots were inoculated on MS medium with 0.05 mg·L−1 NAA. Regenerated plantlets were transferred to a mixture of vermiculite and soil and acclimated in a greenhouse. The survival rate of the transplanted plantlets was about 91.6%. The rate of ex vitro rooting was 83.3%, indicating that this technique is effective for root induction in H. turgida. This study has established a rapid and efficient micropropagation system that can be beneficial for commercial cultivation and germplasm conservation of H. turgida.
Salvia miltiorrhiza, known as danshen, is one of most valued medicinal plants in China. Although it has been cultivated since ancient times, an optimal culture system needs to be standardized for this important species. Here, we explored the phytochemical properties of S. miltiorrhiza with the treatments of rare earth elements (REEs) to develop an optimal tissue culture system. Four-week-old in vitro-grown S. miltiorrhiza plantlets were used as explants. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.2 mg·L−1 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) to induce rooting at four different concentrations (50, 100, 200, and 300 μM) of REEs such as cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), or praseodymium (Pr), respectively. Compared with all REEs at different concentrations, 100 μM Pr induced greater root length than Ce or La at any concentrations. Concomitantly, 0.38 μg tanshinone IIA/mg dry weight (DW) was observed, which was 54.84% higher than in the control. Similarly, chlorophyll content, antioxidant enzyme activity, and secondary metabolite were enhanced in rooting medium supplemented with 100 μM Pr. Therefore, this study showed that 100 μM Pr is an adequate concentration in the optimal culture system for promoting plant growth as well as enhancing secondary metabolite content in S. miltiorrhiza.
2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is one of the most toxic polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The toxic effects of BDE-47 on Chinese cabbage seedlings were analyzed in this study. After a 30-day hydroponic exposure to BDE-47 at different concentrations (25, 50, 75, and 100 µg·L−1), the fresh weight of Chinese cabbage seedlings was significantly decreased, whereas their root:shoot ratio was increased, indicating that BDE-47 inhibited the growth of the plant, especially the overground parts. The water content, chlorophyll content, and protein content of Chinese cabbage leaves also markedly decreased with the increase of the BDE-47 concentration. In addition, BDE-47 weakened the photosynthetic capacity of the leaves, which was supported by the decreased photosynthetic parameters [net photosynthetic rate (P n) and stomatal conductance (g S)]. Although the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) in the leaves were enhanced after exposure to BDE-47, the increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content attested to the existence of membrane lipid peroxidation. The increased plasma membrane permeability and the decreased chlorophyll fluorescence parameters [the maximum quantum yield of PSII photochemistry at t = 0 (F v/F m), photosystem II (PSII) reaction centers (RCs) per cross section (CS) (RC/CS), absorption energy flux per CS (ABS/CS), trapped energy flux per CS (TR o/CS), electron transport flux per CS (ET o/CS), performance index on the absorption basis (PI abs), and driving force for photosynthesis (DF)] further proved that the plasma membrane and photosynthetic membrane were damaged by BDE-47. Our study demonstrated the phytotoxicities of BDE-47 to Chinese cabbage, which can provide valuable information for understanding the toxicity of BDE-47 on vegetables.