Root cultures of Linum spp. (section Syllinum) as a source of 6-methoxypodopyllotoxin

Linum spp. (Linaceae) has been shown to accumulate cytotoxic lignans such as podophyllotoxin and 6-methoxypodopyllotoxin. Therefore, plant cell and tissue cultures of Linum spp. may be possible alternative sources for the lignan production. In this study, we focused on the production of lignans by root cultures of Linum spp. Hairy root cultures of L. nodiflorum, L.album and L. austriacum and root culture of L. mucronatum were initiated on B5 liquid medium. Hairy roots were initiated by treating the samples with Agrobacterium rhizogenesis. Root samples were extracted by normal procedure for lignan extraction method and analyzed by HPLC. Result showed high accumulation of 6-methoxypodopyllotoxin in the root and hairy root cultures of L. album, L. nodiflorum and L. mucronatum, whereas hairy root cultures of L. austriacum produced justicidin B as the main lignan. Root and hairy root cultures of Linum species (section Syllinum) are manufacturers of 6-methoxypodopyllotoxin as the main lignan. Such cultures are powerful systems for the production of lignans in the large scale.