Kivonat:
The composition and content of flavones were estimated in pRi
T-DNA-transformed skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi) roots
obtained by the inoculation of axenically grown seedlings with a wild
A4 strain of the soil bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes. It was
elucidated by analytical and preparative HPLC of phenolic compounds in
the extracts from the pRi T-DNA-transformed roots and also by
ultraviolet spectroscopy and H-1 and C-13 NMR that cultured skullcap
roots contained similar basic flavones as intact roots of this plant
species. i.e., baicalein and wogonin and corresponding glucuronides,
baicalin and wogonoside. The content of these flavones in cultured
roots was threefold lower than in the roots of intact five-year-old
plants. When skullcap roots were cultured on B5 or Murashige and Skoog
medium, the ratios between major flavones changed but their total
content remained unchanged. The treatment of three-week-old cultured
roots with methyl ether of jasmonic acid (MeJa) doubled the total
concentration of major flavones in roots; the content of aglycons,
baicalein and wogonin, increased to a greater degree, e.g., by 2.3 and
3.3 times, respectively. The induction of flavone production by
elicitors indicates that flavones behave as phytoanticipins because
major flavones of skullcap manifest a distinct antimicrobial activity.
The results of the short-term treatment of skullcap roots with MeJa
show that stress biotic factors can considerably increase the content
of physiologically active flavones.
