Enhanced Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis by Abiotic Elicitor in Transformed Plant Root System

Plants generally produce secondary metabolites in nature as a defense mechanism against pathogenic and insect attack. In this study, we applied several abiotic elicitors in order to enhance growth and ginseng saponin biosynthesis in the hairy roots of P. ginseng. Generally, elicitor treatments were found to inhibit the growth of the hairy roots, although simultaneously enhancing ginseng saponin biosynthesis. The addition of selenium at inoculum time did not significantly affect ginseng saponin biosynthesis. However, when 0.5 mM selenium was added as an elicitor after 21 days of culture, ginseng saponin content and productivity increased to about 1.31 and 1.33 times control levels, respectively. These results suggest that processing time for the generation of ginseng saponin in a hairy root culture can be reduced via the application of an elicitor.