Exogenous ABA and polyamines enhanced salvianolic acids contents in hairy root cultures of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. f.alba

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. f.alba is a variety of S. miltiorrhiza Bunge which is a well-known and very important traditional chinese medicinal herb. In this study, we successfully induced hairy roots from leaves of S. miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba by Agrobacterium rhizogenes ACCC10060. As determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), these hairy root cultures had the ability to produce salvianolic acid B and salvianic acid A, two main salvianolic acids in S. miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba. The effects of ABA and polyamines (PAs, including putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spe)) on salvianolic acids production were studied. The results showed that phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, salvianolic acid B and salvianic acid A contents increased 1.8, 2.0 and 3.3 times after 80 μmol L ABA treatment for 10 d, 12 d and 10 d, respectively. Similarly, Put was the most effective polyamine among the three PAs, and the effects of Put and Spd for salvianolic acids production were better than that of Spe. Moreover, hairy root cultures treated with 50 mg L Put produced the highest levels of hairy root growth (13.23 g L culture), salvianolic acid B (12.13 mg g DW) and salvianic acid A (3.95 mg g DW) among the three PAs. After treated with the mixture of Put and Spd (50 mg Leach) for 10 d, 12 d and 10 d respectively, PAL activity, salvianolic acid B and salvianic acid A production were about 1.82, 2.05 and 3.45 times as those in the control, respectively. These findings indicate that exogenous ABA and PAs can enhance two salvianolic acids production in hairy root cultures of S. miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba.