Molecular assessment of the impact of ultraviolet B radiation on secondary metabolism of Artemisia annua L

Abstract

Artemisinins, a family of unique sesquiterpene trioxane with endoperoxide bridge is newlinesurely a natures gift to the mankind and are derived from an Asteraceae member newlineArtemisia annua L. In the present scenario, WHO recommended artemisinin combination newlinetherapies (ACT) form the backbone of the global struggle to cure malaria. According to newlineWHO (2014) approximately 3.4 billion people are at risk of this disease. However newlineunfortunately artemisinin availability is still facing its short supply and is unable to meet newlinethe global demand. The various factors contributing to short falls in artemisinin newlineavailability are its low concentration in plants (less than 0.01 to 1.4 % of the plant dry newlineweight), dependence of its yield on environmental variables such as temperature, newlinehumidity, soil types etc as well as uneconomical and low yielding chemical synthesis newlineowing to its complex structure therefore, only reliable resource remains its extraction newlinefrom aerial parts of the plant. To overcome this limitation various approaches have been newlineused to increase artemisinin production but none have been as successful as desired newlinebecause of high cost and complexity in artemisinin structure. It is highly desirable to find newlineout a simpler, cost effective and time saving approach to enhance artemisinin newlinebiosynthesis in-planta. newlineThe present study was undertaken to explore possible role of UV-B elicitation towards newlineenhanced production of secondary metabolites in A. annua. newline