Influence of Auxins and Wounding on Glucosinolate Biosynthesis in Hairy Root Cultures of Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis)  

Sang Un Park¹*, Sun Ju Bong¹, Md. Romij Uddin², Sun-Ju Kim³, Jong Seok Park⁴

¹Department of Crop Science, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-Ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-764, South Korea ²Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh. ³Department of Bio-Environmental Chemistry, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-Ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea ⁴Department of Horticulcure, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-Ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-764, South Korea

ABSTRACT: Cruciferous vegetables are well-known for their health benefits owing to the presence of the biologically active compounds glucosinolates. This study aimed to investigate the effect of auxins and wounding on GSL biosynthesis in the hairy root cultures of Chinese cabbage. Five different glucosinolates, i.e., glucoerucin, glucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, gluconasturtiin, and neoglucobrassicin, were detected in the hairy root cultures of Chinese cabbage. The concentrations of neoglucobrassicin and 4-methoxyglucobrassicin were considerably higher than those of other glucosinolates in response to both Auxin and wounding. Glucosinolate accumulation was higher at low concentrations of auxins. Of the different auxins, 0.1 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid led to the highest accumulation of gluconasturtiin and neoglucobrassicin. The levels of glucosinolates in the hairy root cultures varied widely with time of wounding. The highest level of glucobrassicin was found 72 h after wounding, achieving a level 3.4-times greater than basal conditions. The level of gluconasturtiin was 1.5-times higher than that before wounding, and no gluconasturtiin was detected as time from wounding elapsed. Wound-induced phenolic metabolism in mature leaves appears to be induced by signals different than those functioning in young leaves. Therefore, hairy root cultures might be a valuable alternate approach for the production of glucosinolate compounds from Chinese cabbage through wounding and also with other phytohormones or elicitors.

KEYWORDS: Auxins; Chinese cabbage; Glucosinolates; Hairy root cultures; Wounding

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