Full Length Research Paper

Production of gastrodin through biotransformation of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol using hairy root cultures of Datura tatula L.

C.X. Peng¹, Gong J.S.²*, Zhang X.F.², M. Zhang³ and Zheng S.Q.⁴

¹Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650224, P.R.China.

²Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, P.R.China.

³Faculty of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, P.R.China.

⁴Institute of Material Medical, Kunming Pharmaceutical Corp, Kunming 650100, P.R.China.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: gong199@163.com.  Tel: +86-871-5228661.

Accepted 6 December, 2007

Inoculation of leaf sections of Datura tatula L. plants with A4 strain of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, induced transformed roots. The rol C (root loci) gene of TL region of A. rhizogenes was detected by PCR analyses in hair roots. The conversion of exogenous p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol into p-hydroxy-methyl-phenol-β-D-glucoside (gastrodin) was studied using hairy root cultures of D. tatula L. The chemical structure of the synthesized gastrodin was identified on the basis of spectral analysis and chemical evidence. The procedure of conversion of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol into gastrodin by D. tatula L. hairy root cultures was established. The synthesized gastrodin was isolated from the ferment liquor and identified by spectral analysis. The biotransformation of exogenous p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol to gastrodin using hairy root cultures of D. tatula L. is a promising approach.

Key words: Datura tatula L., hairy root, p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, gastrodin, biotransformation.