Enhancement of Celastrol compound by silver nanoparticles and acetosyringone in Celastrus paniculatus Willd. through adventitious and hairy root culture

Celastrus paniculatus Willd., an important medicinal plant for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases is at risk of extinction due to destructive harvesting by pharmaceutical industries in its different habitats. This study aims to determine the impact of silver nanoparticles on the enhancement of therapeutic Celastrol content in adventitious and hairy root culture. MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mg L −1 Indole Acetic Acidwas found suitable for adventitious root induction (69%). Hairy roots were successfully induced by co-cultivation of leaf explants with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain MTCC532 supplemented with acetosyringone (100 µM) to the half-strength medium. Transformation confirmed by PCR analysis.10 µg mL −1 of AgNPs with 48 h exposure time resulted in enhanced biomass accumulation in adventitious roots and in hairy roots. HPLC analysis confirmed that Celastrol content increased 2.24-fold and 1.87-fold higher in hairy root and adventitious roots respectively.