Influence of biotic and abiotic elicitors on production of tanshinones in Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy root culture

Objective: To compare influence of several biotic elicitors (yeast extract, oligogalacturonides, and fungal elicitor) and abiotic elicitors (Ag+, Co2+, and α-amino isobutyric acid) on tanshinone production in the hairy root culture of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Methods: The contents of three tanshinones were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Results: Biotic elicitors increased effectively the yield of tanshinones and there were difference among different elicitors' effects. The highest content of tanshinones was achieved by fungal elicitor at 100 μg/mL, which was 0.42 mg/g, 4.7-fold of the control. The elicitation effects of abiotic elicitors were relatively lower than those of biotic elicitors, with Co2+ at 50 μmol/L giving the highest content of tanshinone (1.75 mg/g, 4.1-fold of the control) among abiotic elicitors. Biotic and abiotic elicitors showed the selectivity of elicitation. All biotic elicitors notably increased the crypotanshinone content and all abiotic elicitors selectively enhanced the tanshinone I content. And in most cases, the elicitors added did not cause any obviously inhibitory effect on the hairy root growth. Conclusion: Adding different biotic and abiotic elicitors may selectively promote tanshinone accumulation and not affect the hairy root growth in the hairy root cultures of S. miltiorrhiza.