Title : Feasibility of licorice composite plant production
Abstract:
Glycyrrhiza glabra L. is a valuable perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Fabaceae family, which has natural habitats in most regions of Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. Its importance is due to its diverse medicinal and nutritional applications. The extract of this plant prevents the replication of the HIV virus genome. The cultivation of this plant is mainly due to the use of its root. The root of this plant is rich in flavonoids, saponins, tannins, etc., one of the most important and widely used of which is a saponin called glycyrrhizin, which is the cause of the sweet taste of this plant and also has anti- inflammatory, antiviral, anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. The sweetness of this substance is 50 times that of sugar, and its amounts in the root, depending on the variety, have been reported from 5 to 20%. Glycyrrhiza glabra needs 6 years for sufficient growth in nature, but this period is significantly reduced in aeroculture devices, and the highest growth reported for this plant has been in this type of cultivation. One of the solutions to increase glycyrrhizin is to induce the growth of hairy roots and prepare a composite plant of Glycyrrhiza glabra, which is possible with the help of Agrobacterium rhizogenes bacteria. The plant inoculated with Agrobacterium will often re-sprout by cutting the hairy root. The preparation of a composite plant is also very effective in increasing the efficiency of secondary metabolites of the plant. In the present study, to prepare a composite plant, four strains of 15834, A4, MSU, A13 were used on four ecotypes from the cities of Isfahan, Damavand, Shiraz and Kerman, all of which were in the post-2-leaf stage. To confirm the transformation of plants, the rolB gene was used in the PCR process. There was a significant difference between different strains of bacteria in terms of transformation, and the MSU strain had the highest efficiency and the A13 strain had the lowest efficiency. Also, between the cities tested, there was a significant difference in terms of inoculation uptake, among which Damavand had the best effect and Shiraz had the least effect. Also, the interaction of these two traits was investigated, and in that city of Damavand and MSU strain had the highest inoculation efficiency.
