Vegetos
(An International Journal of Plant Research & Biotechnology)
Silver nanoparticle-induced shikonin production in cell cultures of Arnebia benthamii (Wall ex. G. Don) Johnston
*Article not assigned to an issue yet
Joshi Namini, Rawat Balwant, Sinha Somya, Negi Shivani, Raj Akshita, Agarwal Mrinalini, Rai Nishant, Rawat Janhvi Mishra, Rawat Balwant, Sinha Somya
Research Articles | Published: 24 June, 2025
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Keywords: n Arnebia benthamiin , Nanoparticles, Antioxidant activity, Elicitors, Shikonin, Callus
Abstract
Secondary metabolites hold significant commercial value due to their diverse applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Controlled elicitation is a widely used strategy to enhance the biosynthesis of these compounds in plant cultures. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a novel elicitor to enhance the production of bioactive secondary metabolites, including shikonin, in the cell suspension culture of Arnebia benthamii. Callus was induced on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.5 µM Thidiazuron (TDZ) and 0.5 µM 1-Napthalene acetic acid (NAA) with 86.43 ± 4.22 percent callus induction frequency. Further, suspension culture was established by transferring 0.50 g callus to MS liquid medium having the same PGRs combination (2.5 µM TDZ and 0.5 µM NAA) and exposed to varying concentrations of AgNPs (20–80 µg/L). The impact on biomass accumulation, total phenolic content, flavonoid content, tannin content, and shikonin production was assessed. Antioxidant potential was analyzed using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) and FRAP (ferric ion reducing antioxidant potential) in vitro assays. The addition of 40 µg/L AgNPs resulted in the highest callus biomass (3.89 ± 0.45 g fresh weight) and significantly enhanced the accumulation of phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins. However, maximum shikonin production was observed at 60 µg/L AgNPs. The antioxidant activity was also highest at 40 µg/L AgNPs, with a DPPH scavenging potential of 89.56 ± 2.06%. It may be concluded that silver nanoparticles significantly influence biomass proliferation and secondary metabolite biosynthesis in A. benthamii suspension cultures. The optimized elicitation protocol offers a promising strategy for sustainable and scalable production of bioactive metabolites, potentially reducing the harvesting pressure on natural populations of this endangered medicinal plant.
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Department of Biotechnology, Graphic Era Deemed to Be University, Dehradun, India