Recombinant subunit vaccines consisting of the F1 and V antigens of Yersinia pestis have shown remarkable promise for protection of animals and humans against bubonic and pneumonic plague. Previously we demonstrated that intranasal administration of a recombinant protein consisting of the ricin B chain (RTB) fused with an antigen purified from transgenic Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) hairy root c...

A number of plants can be successfully transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes through the transfer of T-DNA from agrobacteria to the plant genome. Transgenic tissue – hairy roots – is produced as a result of the transformation process. This organized, genetically stable, hormone-independent transformed tissue is capable of accomplishing complex metabolic pathways, including biosynthesis and ac...

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated 'hairy root' cultures were established in Atropa acuminata. The chemical profiling of the hairy roots was carried out by a new mass spectrometric technique, direct analysis in real time (DART). The intact hairy roots were directly analyzed by holding them in the gap between the DART ion source and mass spectrometer. Two alkaloids, atropine and scopolamine, were...

The (-)-hyoscyamine, atropine and scopolamine (hyoscine) are three valuable tropane alkaloids while scopolamine is the most important member of this group for the pharmaceutical industry due to its higher demand compared to hyoscyamine and atropine. Scopolamine is an anticholinergic reagent with several therapeutic applications. In the current study, the hairy roots culture of Daturametel was u...

It is an increased interest in the therapeutic potential of Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana) for treatment of multiple sclerosis and HIV neuropathy. Because of limitation in cultivation of this plant, an efficient hairy root induction system for Cannabis sativa L. was developed in the present study. Agrobacterium rhizogenes mediated transformation performed by two different co-cultivation mediums...

Background: Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea L.) is one of the most important medicinal plants. Hairy root culture of Echinace, represent a valuable alternative to field cultivation for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. Objective: The present study investigates the effects of KNO3, CaCl2 and MgSO4 concentrations on growth and the biosynthesis of cichoric acid in Echinacea...

Analysis of genes preferentially expressed in hairy roots caused by infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes has provided insights into the regulation of lateral root formation. A hairy root preferential cDNA, HR7, has been cloned from hairy roots of Hyoscyamus niger. HR7 encodes a novel protein partially homologous to a metallocarboxypeptidase inhibitor and is expressed exclusively in the primo...

Understanding the functions encoded by plant genes can be facilitated by reducing transcript levels by hairpin RNA (hpRNA) mediated silencing. A bottleneck to this technology occurs when a gene encodes a phenotype that is necessary for cell viability and silencing the gene inhibits transformation. Here we compared the use of two chemically inducible plant promoter systems to drive hpRNA mediate...

Rhizosecretion of functional recombinant proteins from in vitro cultured roots into the hydroponic medium offers an attractive technology to simplify down-stream purification procedures. Aim of the present study was the production and secretion of the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) ranalexin from Nicotiana tabacum hairy roots which were transformed by agroinfection. A His-tagged ranalexin was expr...