환경스트레스 처리에 의한 개똥쑥 artemisinin 생합성 증진

Enhanced biosynthesis of artemisinin by environmental stresses in Artemisia annua

Artemisinin is a secondary metabolite of Artemisia annua that shows potent anti-malarial, anti-bacterial, antiviral, and anti-tumor effects. The supply of artemisinin depends on its content in Artemisia annua, in which various environmental factors can affect the plant’s biosynthetic yield. In this study, the effects of different light-emitting diode (LED)-irradiation conditions were tested to optimize the germination and growth of Artemisia annua for the enhanced production of artemisinin. Specifically, the ratio between the red and blue lights in the irradiating LED was varied for investigation as follows: [Red : Blue] = [6 : 4], [7 : 3], and [8 : 2]. Furthermore, additional stress factors like UV-Birradiation (1,395 μW/cm2), low temperature (4°C), and dehydration were also explored to induce hormetic expressions of ADS, CYP, and ALDH1, which are essential genes for the biosynthesis of artemisinin. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to analyze the expression levels of the respective genes and their correlation with the specified conditions. [8 : 2] LED-irradiation was the most optimal among the tested conditions for the cultivation of Artemisia annua in terms of both fresh and dry weights post-harvest. For the production of artemisinin, however, [7 : 3] LEDirradiation with dehydration for six hours pre-harvest was the most optimal condition by inducing around twofold enhancement in the biosynthetic yield of artemisinin. As expected, a correlation was observed between the expression levels of the genes and the contents of artemisinin accumulated.