Thidiazuron (TDZ) has gained a considerable attention during past decades due to its efficient role in plant cell and tissue culture. Wide array of physiological responses were observed in response to TDZ-application in different plant species. TDZ has shown both auxin and cytokinin like effects, although, chemically, it is totally different from commonly used auxins and cytokinins. A number of biological (physiological and biochemical) events in cells are induced or enhanced by TDZ, but the mode of action of TDZ is yet unknown. However, varieties of underlying mechanisms were revealed by reports showing how morphogenic events were induced by application of TDZ. Other reports showed that TDZ may modify endogenous plant growth regulators, either directly or indirectly and produce reactions in cell/tissue, necessary for its division/regeneration. Other possibilities include modification in cell membrane, energy levels, nutrient absorption, transport and assimilation, etc. In this review, recent advancements in TDZ application in plant sciences are discussed.

	 

	Key words: Thidiazuron, plant growth regulators, somatic embryogenesis, regeneration, cell cultures, metabolism.

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Thidiazuron: A multi-dimensional plant growth regulator

Tea is one of the most important non-alcoholic beverage drinks worldwide and gaining further popularity as an important ‘health drink’. It is served as morning drink for 2/3rd of world population daily. Although conventional breeding and propagation contributed significantly for last several decades for varietal improvement, due to the limitations of conventional breeding coupled with the demand for increasing productivity with lower cost of production, application of biotechnology becomes an alternative approach. Therefore, apart from a dozen of tea research institutes globally, several other groups are working on tea and related genera that have registered many valuable information with several achievements. The present review deals with progress in-depth of various aspects of biotechnological works such as micropropagation and alternative approaches, cell and organ culture techniques, genetic transformation, DNA markers as well as organelle genome and gene cloned from tea and related genera which will be valuable information for the workers working on various aspects of Camellia biotechnology.

Recent advances of tea (camellia sinensis) biotechnology

A.A. Salim, Y.-W. Chin, A. D. Kinghorn: Drug Discovery from Plants.- P. Waffo-Teguo, K. Stephanie, R. Tristan, J.M. Merillon: Grapevine Stilbenes and Biological Effects.- M.T. Luczkiewicz: Research into Isoflavonoid Phytoestrogens in Plant Cell Cultures.- S. Kintzios: Recent Advances in Secondary Metabolite Production from Plant Cell Culture: the Successful Case Stories of Rosmarinic Acid and Taxol.- K.G. Ramawat, M. Mathur, S. Dass, S. Suthar: Guggulsterone: A Potent Natural Hypolipidemic Agent from Commiphora wightii- Problems, Perseverance and Prospects.- P. Corchete: Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn: The Source of Silymarin.- A. Kirakosyan, D.M. Gibson, P.B. Kaufman: The production of Dianthrones and Phloroglucinol Derivatives in St. John's Wort.- D. Laurain-Mattar: Production of Alkaloids in Plant Cell and Tissue Cultures.- R. Mandapati: Bacopa Monnieri, a Nootropic Drug - A review.- R. Uma Shaanker, B.T. Ramesha, G. Ravikanth, R. Gunaga, R. Vasudeva, K.N. Ganeshaiah: Chemical Profiling of Nothapodytes nimmoniana for Camptothecin, an Important Anticancer Alkaloid: Towards Development of a Sustainable Production System.- S. Ghosh, S. Jha: Cochicine- an Overview for Plant Biotechnologists.- S. Srivastava, A.K. Srivastava: Recent Advances of in vitro Azadirachtin Production.- A. Pal: Arabinogalactan Protein and Arabinogalactan: Biomolecules with Biotechnological and Therapeutical Potentials.- S. Guillon, J. Tremouillaux-Guiller, P. K. Pati, P. Gantet: Hairy Roots: a Powerful Tool for Plant Biotechnological Advances.- S. Guillon, P. Gantet, M. Thiersault, M. Rideau, J Tremouillaux-Guiller: Hairy Roots of Catharanthus roseus: Efficient Routes to Monomeric Indole Alkaloid Production.- Z. Weglarz, J.L. Przybyl, A. Geszprych: Rose Root (Rhodiola rosea L): Effect of Internal and External Factors on Accumulation of Biologically Active Compounds.- L. F. Brisson: Apoptosis and Plant Derived Pharmaceuticals.- K. G. Ramawat, S. Goyal: Indian Herbal Drugs Scenario inGlobal Perspectives.- R. Mandapati, N.S. Kanaki: Phytochemical Standardization of Herbal Drugs and Polyherbal Formulations

Bioactive molecules and medicinal plants

Biogenic synthesis of iron oxide nanorods (FeO-NRs) from FeCl3 capped with Moringa oleifera (MO) has been developed in this work. The facile, cost effective, and eco-friendly FeO-NRs formulated were characterized using various techniques. The change in the visible color which leads to the formulation of FeO-NRs was confirmed by the UV–visible spectroscopy analysis. The crystallinity of FeO-NRs was observed in the X-ray diffraction spectroscopy pattern indexed to the spinel cubic lattice in the tetrahedral hematite structure. A rod-like morphology of FeO-NRs with the average particle size of 15.01 ± 6.03 nm was determined by the scanning and transmission electron microscopies. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis shows the various functional groups in the formulatedFeO-NRs. Vibrating sample magnetometer shows that the formulated FeO-NRs are superparamagnetic with good saturation magnetization. The formulated FeO-NRs inhibit the growth of six human pathogens with a higher activity at lower concentrations. It is noteworthy that the bacterial strains show strong and effective susceptibility to the formulated FeO-NRs at lower concentrations compared to the conventional antibacterial drugs. Hence, the formulated FeO-NRs proved to be a good, efficient, and promising antibacterial agent due to its cost-effectiveness, non-toxicity, and facile synthesis procedures in therapeutic biomedical fields.

Biogenic synthesis of iron oxide nanorods using Moringa oleifera leaf extract for antibacterial applications

Biosynthesis of tin oxide nanoparticles using Psidium Guajava leave extract for photocatalytic dye degradation under sunlight

Rapid synthesis of highly monodispersed silver nanoparticles from the leaves of Salvadora persica

Genetic engineering of secondary metabolic pathways is an emerging area of research for production and improvement of natural products in plant biotechnology. Here, we describe a systematic approach to manipulate a key regulatory step of isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway in Withania somnifera to study its effect on withanolide production. We generated T0 W. somnifera plants overexpressing squalene synthase (WsSQS) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation, which were analyzed by Gus biochemical assay and PCR of hygromycin phosphotransferase (hptII) and WsSQS. qRT-PCR analyses of various transformed tissues indicated 2–5 fold increase in WsSQS transcripts in both T0 and T1 generations. The tissue specific protein expression studies revealed 2–3 fold increase in WsSQS, which was further confirmed by enzyme activity. These observations were corroborated with the 1.5–2 fold increase in total withanolide content of the transformed tissues. However, in leaf tissue, the levels of Withaferin A and Withanolide A increased significantly up to 4–4.5 fold. These findings demonstrate genetic engineering of isoprenoid pathway in W. somnifera resulting in enhanced production of withanolides, and also provide insights into such metabolic pathways for their manipulation to improve the pharmacological content of different medicinally important plants.

Overexpression of squalene synthase in Withania somnifera leads to enhanced withanolide biosynthesis

Teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) (family Verbenaceae) is one of the exotic, hardwood timber trees. Teak is indigenous to South East Asia (India, Burma, Thailand and Indonesia). Under favourable conditions the tree attains a large size with a tall, clean and cylindrical bole.

Micropropagation of teak

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In vitro clonal propagation of Casuarina equisetifolia Forst. from mature tree-derived explants

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, an evergreen shrub distributed throughout the drier parts of India, is well known for its medicinal properties. Three different approaches were employed towards development of an efficient transformation system in Withania somnifera , namely Agrobacterium tumefaciens- mediated transformation, microprojectile bombardment and microprojectile bombardment assisted agroinfection. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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Shuchishweta V. Kendurkar

Papers

Rapid synthesis of highly monodispersed silver nanoparticles from the leaves of Salvadora persica

Overexpression of squalene synthase in Withania somnifera leads to enhanced withanolide biosynthesis

Micropropagation of teak

In vitro clonal propagation of Casuarina equisetifolia Forst. from mature tree-derived explants

Microprojectile bombardment assisted agroinfection increases transformation efficiency of Withania somnifera (L.)