Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. J Biotechnol. 2024 Jun 10;388:59-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2024.04.010. Epub 2024 Apr 16. Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal: Enhanced production of withanolides and phenolic acids from hairy root culture after application of elicitors. Halder T(1), Ghosh B(2). Author information: (1)Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Post Graduate Department of Botany, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara, Kolkata 700118, India. Electronic address: tarunhalder13@gmail.com. (2)Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Post Graduate Department of Botany, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara, Kolkata 700118, India. Electronic address: ghosh_b2000@yahoo.co.in. Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is an important indigenous medicinal plant with extensive pharmaceutical potential. The root is the main source of major bioactive compounds of this plant species including withanolides, withanine, phenolic acids, etc. Hairy root culture (HRC) is a crucial method for low-cost production of active compounds on a large scale. Four different Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains have been used for the hairy root induction. Maximum transformation efficiency (87.34 ± 2.13%) was achieved with A4 bacterial strain-mediated transformed culture. The genetic transformation was confirmed by using specific primers of seven different genes. Seven HR (Hairy root) lines were selected after screening 29 HR lines based on their fast growth rate and high accumulation of withanolides and phenolic acids content. Two biotic and three abiotic elicitors were applied to the elite root line to trigger more accumulation of withanolides and phenolic acids. While all the elicitors effectively increased withanolides and phenolic acids production, among the five different elicitors, salicylic acid (4.14 mg l-1) induced 11.49 -fold increase in withanolides (89.07 ± 2.75 mg g-1 DW) and 5.34- fold increase in phenolic acids (83.69 ± 3.11 mg g- 1 DW) after 5 days of elicitation compared to the non-elicited culture (7.75 ± 0.63 mg g-1 DW of withanolides and 15.66 ± 0.92 mg g-1 DW of phenolic acids). These results suggest that elicitors can tremendously increase the biosynthesis of active compounds in this system; thus, the HRC of W. somnifera is cost-effective and can be efficiently used for the industrial production of withanolides and phenolic acids. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2024.04.010 PMID: 38636845 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of Competing Interest Authors declare that the investigation reported in this paper was not influenced by any competing financial interests or relationships.