Identification of active principles and their molecular targets from traditional medicine is an enormous opportunity for modern drug development. Gum resin from Commiphora wightii (syn C. mukul) has been used for centuries in Ayurveda to treat internal tumors, obesity, liver disorders, malignant sores and ulcers, urinary complaints, intestinal worms, leucoderma (vitiligo), sinuses, edema and sudden paralytic seizures. Guggulsterone has been identified as one of the major active components of this gum resin. This steroid has been shown to bind to the farnesoid X receptor and modulate expression of proteins with antiapoptotic (IAP1, XIAP, Bfl-1/A1, Bcl-2, cFLIP, survivin), cell survival, cell proliferation (cyclin D1, c-Myc), angiogenic, and metastatic (MMP-9, COX-2, VEGF) activities in tumor cells. Guggulsterone mediates gene expression through regulation of various transcription factors, including NF-kappaB, STAT-3 and C/EBPalpha, and various steroid receptors such as androgen receptor and glucocorticoid receptors. Modulation of gene expression by guggulsterone leads to inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, suppression of invasion and abrogation of angiogenesis. Evidence has been presented to suggest that guggulsterone can suppress tumor initiation, promotion and metastasis. This review describes the identification of molecular targets of guggulsterone, cellular responses to guggulsterone, and animal studies and clinical trials of guggulsterone in cancer and other diseases.

The guggul for chronic diseases: ancient medicine, modern targets.

The seed is the primary organ for the perpetuation of germplasm and propagation in all flowering plants. It contains the embryo which develops from the zygote following the fertilization of the egg cell by one of the male gametes. Gene recombination during the formation, as well as the fusion, of the gametes plays a critical role in the evolution of the angiosperms. During its development the embryo is nourished by the endosperm, which itself is formed as a result of the fusion of the second male gamete with two nuclei (in most of the angiosperms) of the central cell of the embryo sac. During the course of evolution many species have developed special means of propagation to overcome physical, environmental and genetic factors that prevent flowering and seed formation. These include the formation of perennial structures such as tubers, rhizomes, bulbs, stolons, etc (see Sharma and Thorpe, this volume). An advanced form of perennation is found in many apomictic species which produce embryos from unfertilized gametic or somatic cells. Like the zygotic embryos, the apomictic embryos develop within the seed and are protected and dispersed like natural seed. Apomictic embryos of all genotypes — irrespective of heterozygosity — developing from unreduced and unfertilized somatic or gametic cells (agamospermy, adventive embryony, apospory, diplospory) breed true and give rise to clonal populations. Apomixis is known to be under genetic control, but environmental conditions such as temperature and photoperiod may also promote a switch from sexual to apomictic development [1,2].

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-94-011-0485-2_10

Somatic Embryogenesis in Herbaceous Dicots

In order to have standardized formulations, the chemical constituents from plants and their parts are required to be uniform both qualitatively and quantitatively. Furthermore, an ever increasing demand of uniform medicinal plants based medicines warrants their mass cloning through plant tissue culture strategy. A good number of medicinal plants have been reported to regenerate in vitro from their various parts, but a critical evaluation of such reports reveals that only a few complete medicinal plants have been regenerated and still fewer have actually been grown in soil, while their micropropagation on a mass scale has rarely been achieved, particularly in those medicinal plants where conventional propagation is inadequate, like, the mass clonal propagation of Dioscorea floribunda leading to its successful field trials. Such facts make it imperative to document the factual position of micropropagation of medicinal plants bringing out the advancements made along with the short falls, in this important area. The present review deals with the futuristic view on the said subject restricted to higher plants.

http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/5689/1/IJEB%2045%2811%29%20937-948.pdf

Cloning of medicinal plants through tissue culture--a review.

An efficient regeneration protocol for rapid multiplication of Melia azedarach, an economically as well as medicinally important timber-yielding tree, was developed. Nearly 90% of the culture exhibited axillary bud sprouting and multiple shoot formation from nodal segments derived from 20-year-old candidate plus tree on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 5 μM 6-benzyladenine (BA). The highest shoot regeneration frequency (92%), maximum number of multiple shoots (19.7 ± 0.31) as well as shoot length (4.9 ± 0.08 cm) was induced from nodal explants on MS medium amended with 5.0 μM BA, 0.5 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 30 μM adenine sulfate (AdS). Addition of 250 mg l−1 ammonium sulphate, (NH4)2SO4, and 100 mg l−1 K2SO4, prevented defoliation and tip burning without affecting the number of shoots. The explant harvest period also influenced the bud break and shoot sprouting from nodal segments. Repeated subculturing of nodal explants on fresh MS medium containing lower concentration of BA (2.5 μM) along with IAA (0.5 μM), AdS (30 μM) and additives was found most suitable growth regulator regime for achieving 1.2-fold increase in shoot multiplication rate. The percentage of shoot multiplication as well as the number of shoots per node remained the same during first three subculture passages, afterwards a decline was recorded. About 90% of the in vitro regenerated shoots were successfully rooted ex vitro by giving a pulse treatment of 250 μM indole-3-butyric acid for 15 min, followed by their transfer to thermocol cups containing soilrite. The raised plantlets were successfully acclimatized first under culture room conditions, then to green house with 85% survival rate.

Rapid in vitro multiplication of Melia azedarach L. (a multipurpose woody tree)

Genetic stability of regenerated plants via indirect somatic embryogenesis and indirect shoot regeneration of Carum copticum L.

Elite trees of Commiphora wightii (Arnott) Bhandari were selected from the wild on the basis of their content of guggul, an oleoresin. The selected tree was micropropagated through forced axillary branching on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with benzyladenine (BA) and kinetin. Highest frequency of shoot formation was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 17.8 μM BA, 18.6 μM kinetin, 100 mg l-1 glutamine, 10 mg l-1 thiamine HCL and 0.3% activated charcoal. Seasonal changes affected the shoot proliferating potential of the initial explants in vitro. Transfer of shoots to a medium containing a lower concentration of BA (1.8 μM) and kinetin (1.9 μM) before rooting markedly stimulated shoot elongation. Shoots could be rooted by treating them with both indoleacetic acid and indolebutryic acid for 24 h in darkness and transferring them to a low-salt basal medium with activated charcoal. After rooting, transfer to a half-strength White's (modified) medium was necessary for further development of the plantlet. Regenerated plantlets were successfully established in soil.

A. R. Mehta

Papers

Clonal propagation of mature elite trees of Commiphora wightii

Plant regeneration through somatic embryogenesis in hypocotyl explants of Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague