Method of using nano-sized materials for enhancing production of secondary metabolites in plants

Inventors

Khodakovskaya, Mariya • Cherati, Sajedeh Rezaei

Assignees

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Abstract

One aspect of the disclosure is directed to a method for activation/enhancement of cell growth of a plant. The method also stimulates the production of pharmaceutically active metabolites, including alkaloids, in plant cell cultures. The method includes providing a nano-sized material contained agent, and treating the plant with the nano-sized material contained agent to allow sufficient interaction of cells of the plant with the nano-sized material so as to activate/enhance the cell growth of the plant or to stimulate the production of pharmaceutically active metabolites.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to methods and agents using nano-sized carbon-based materials to enhance plant cell growth and to stimulate the production of pharmaceutically active secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures. The nano-sized carbon-based materials include multi-walled carbon nanotubes, with optional use of graphene, single-walled carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, carbon nanofibers, and nanodiamonds. Plant cell culture formats include suspension culture and callus culture.

The method includes providing plant cells in a medium, introducing an amount of the nano-sized material into the medium to form a mixture, maintaining the mixture at a temperature for a period of time to allow sufficient interaction of the plant cells with the nano-sized material, and extracting secondary metabolites from the plant cells or the medium. In this framework, the nano-sized material is multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and the concentration is described as being within a range of about 5-500 μg/ml in the medium.

Mechanistically, the exposure is described as upregulating marker genes associated with cell division/extension, including CycB and NtLRX1, and upregulating a water transport gene, including NtPIP1 (aquaporin), with increased NtPIP1 protein. The patent provides experimental evidence that multi-walled carbon nanotubes increase tobacco cell culture growth compared with control conditions, while activated carbon shows limited effects at low dose and inhibition at high dose.

Claims Coverage

The independent claim covers a method for producing secondary metabolites by plant cells using a nano-sized material, specifically multi-walled carbon nanotubes, in a suspension or callus culture medium, with interaction maintained at a temperature for a period of time and subsequent extraction of secondary metabolites. The inventive features are centered on using multi-walled carbon nanotubes at a defined concentration range to enhance secondary metabolite production via interaction in culture media.

Overall, the claims focus on enhancing secondary metabolite production in plant cells by introducing multi-walled carbon nanotubes into suspension or callus culture media at a specified concentration range, maintaining the mixture at a temperature for sufficient interaction, and extracting the resulting secondary metabolites.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications