Effect Of Pulsed Electric Field On Cell Growth And Secondary Metabolism In Suspension Cultures Of Taxus Chinensis

Effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) on the growth and secondary metabolite production by plant cell culture were investigated by taking suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis as a model system. The cultured cells in different growth phases were exposed to a PEF (50Hz, 10V/m) for various periods of time. A significant increase hi intracellular accumulation of taxuyunnanine C (Tc), a bioactive secondary metabolite, was observed by exposing the cells in early exponential growth phase to a 30-min PEF. The Tc content (i.e. the specific production based on dry cell weight) was increased by 30% after exposure to PEF, without loss of biomass compared with that of the control. Combination of PEF treatment with sucrose feeding was proven useful in improving the secondary metabolite formation. And PEF had some synergistic effect with biotic elicitor-MJA. Production of reactive oxygen species was increased with PEF treatment. The results show that PEF induced the defense response of plant cells. PEF, an external stimulus or stress, is proposed as a promising new abiotic elicitor for stimulating secondary metabolite biosynthesis in plant cell cultures.