Method of producing organogenetic tissue from a plant of the genus Mentha

The invention relates to a method for regeneration of mentha plants from cell or tissue culture through organogenesis. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of menthol for the development of plant parts through organogenesis from calli in hormone free media.

The essential oil of Mentha arvensis Linn. var Piperascens is a well known source of the monoterpene ‘menthol’ used in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, food, confectionery and liquor industries. The biosynthesis of menthol in the plant has a complex cascade fashion of genetic regulation during plant differentiation. Specific oil glands (trichomes) formed on the surface of the leaf and stem isolate these toxic monoterpenoid products to prevent the cellular damage. Monoterpenes are also known to be cytotoxic to plant tissues by acting through inhibition of respiration and photosynthesis, by drastically affecting the mitochondria, golgi bodies etc. and decreasing cell membrane permeability.

However, the present invention is to an experimental chance encounter while screening menthol tolerant clones of Mentha arvensis in tissue culture in presence of menthol in the medium. The applicants have developed a method for screening high menthol yielding genotypes in vitro in presence of menthol. While carrying out this large scale screening procedure, the applicants planned to subject the callus directly to menthol selection for selection tolerant clones. During this process, the applicants observed that menthol at toxic concentration induced the callus (transferred from other media) to form high frequency quality shoots better than those induced in presence of normally used growth hormones for shoot regeneration. This invention inspite of being simple may have far reaching consequences as a number of plants produce secondary metabolites causing end product toxicity and those upon testing may also be useful for organogenesis replacing the growth hormones.

In the present invention, the applicants observed that a lethal concentration of this toxic monoterpene (menthol) in medium induced Mentha arvensis callus (developed from other media), produced better quality shoots with much higher frequency than when induced by the normal growth hormones, contrary to the general observation that Mentha plants die when cultured in a medium containing menthol in toxic concentrations. There is no report of replacement of growth hormones by a monoterpene for inducing organogenesis from callus.

Therefore, the main object of the invention is to provide a method of regeneration of mentha plants from cell or tissue culture through organogenesis. Another object of the invention is to provide a method in which the use of menthol for the development of plant parts through organogenesis from calli in hormone free media is successfully carried out. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a novel and unique use of menthol as growth promoter, inducer of shoot regeneration and signal transducer, which can be provided in the hormone free culture medium for induction of shoots from undifferentiated mass of cells of Mentha arvensis.

Accordingly, the present invention provide's a method for the development of plants and plant parts through organogenesis from calli upon culturing in media comprising menthol in toxic concentrations.

Accordingly, the invention provides a novel and unique procedure of in vitro organogenesis from callus developed from any tissue culture media and then transferring it to medium free from growth hormones but containing menthol at a toxic concentration, wherein

a. the said callus is undifferentiated mass of cells,

b. the said toxic concentration is the concentration at which the regenerated shoots die which is 80 μg ml −1 or more in Mentha arvensis,

c. the said menthol is produced from the essential oil of the plant of genus Mentha or synthesised chemically, and

d. the said growth hormones are but not limited to auxin, 1-napthalene acetic acid and cytokinin, benzyl aminopurine.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of producing organogenetic tissues from a plant of the genus Mentha, said method comprising the steps of:

(i) culturing an explant from a plant of genus Mentha in a initiation medium in the presence of 400 to 600 lux light at a temperature of 23-27° C., with 16 hours of photoperiod, to obtain calli,

(ii) transferring the calli to a basal medium comprising minerals and vitamins to ensure development of shoots, and

(iii) culturing the shoots in a medium substantially free of growth hormones and containing menthol in a concentration of about 80 μg ml −1 to ensure root formation.

The preferred initiation medium employed, in the present invention is modified after MS medium, additionally comprising 0.2 μg ml −1 of auxins selected from naphthalene acetic acid or 1-NAA and 5 μg ml −1 of a cytokinin selected from BAP or benzyl aminopurine.

In another embodiment the invention provides a novel and unique use of menthol as growth promoter, inducer of shoot regeneration and signal transducer, which can be provided in the hormone free culture medium for induction of shoots from undifferentiated mass of cells of Mentha arvensis wherein

a. the menthol can replace the growth hormones for organogenesis wherein organogenesis comprises induction of differentiation from differentiated tissue like callus, and

b. the frequency of shoots generated is more in comparison to medium containing growth hormones.

The invention is described in detail hereafter with reference to the accompanying drawings following examples and FIG. 1, which are provided merely to illustrate the invention. Various modifications that may be apparent to one skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the scope of the present invention.

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

Response of callus in different media

FIG. 1 . Callus in MSO medium after 10 days,

FIG. 2 . Shoot primodia induction from callus in MSA-2 medium after 10 days,

FIG. 3 . Shoot primodia induction from callus in MT-80 medium after 10 days,

FIG. 4 . Death of regenerated shoot (left) and induction of organogenesis from callus (right) in MT-80 medium after 20 days, and

FIG. 5 . Shoots developed in MSA-2 medium (left), in MT-80 (right) and fate of regenerated shoots on MT-80 control flask (middle).

The applicants earlier developed a protocol for screening high menthol yielding plants by inoculating the in vitro raised somaclones in medium containing toxic concentrations of menthol in the tissue culture medium (Patent pending). In this procedure, screening of 2850 variants yielded 30 clones surviving 70 μg ml −1 of menthol concentration in the medium out of which only 5 stable clones could be isolated which were of high menthol content type in comparison to the parent variety ‘Himalaya’ (U.S. Pat No. PP 10935). Increasing the menthol concentration further killed all the shootlets. At this point, the applicants planned experiments to subject the callus directly to menthol selection instead of the regenerated shoots to save on time, space and labour. The logic was to isolate the tolerant cell lines if any, growing from this callus later.

The plant variety used in these experiments was cv. Himalaya (U.S. Pat No. PP10935) of Mentha arvensis L. (2n=96). The suckers of M. arvensis L. cv. Himalaya for multiplication of the plant material and future experimentation were obtained from CIMAP's gene bank. For callus production, the explant material was collected from the field grown plants and surface sterilized by washing sequentially with 2% detergent, distilled water containing a few drops of Savlon (Johnson and Johnson, India), 0 1% acidified mercuric chloride and autoclaved distilled water before inoculation. About 1 cm long internode pieces were inoculated in the Murashige and Skoog medium (Murashige T, Skoog F; 1962. A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassay with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol Planta, 15:473-497) supplemented with 0.2 μg ml −1 of an auxin (NAA, 1-napthalene acetic acid) and 5 μg ml −1 of a cytokinin (BAP, benzyl aminopurine). The cultures were grown at 25±2° C. and 400 to 600 lux light intensity with 16 h photoperiod. The green callus mass developed from the cut ends was taken for further experimentation.

In the next phase, the callus was sub cultured in three different media: i) the basal medium MSO containing only the vitamins and minerals without any growth hormones; ii) MSA-2 medium which is MSO with 0.2 μg ml −1 concentration of NAA and 5 μg ml −1 of a cytokinin BAP; and iii) MT-80 medium which is MSO with only 80 μg ml −1 menthol. On each kind of these media, an independent callus (50 mg ) or 5 independently regenerated shoots were inoculated per flask in 5 replications each. The experiment was conducted in the completely randomized design (CRD) fashion. Cultures were incubated and maintained at 25±2° C. and 400-600 lux light intensity with 16-hour photoperiod. The response was recorded every 24 hours over a period of one week and then weekly upto one month. The results, which clearly demonstrated the novel use of menthol in proficient induction of organogenesis from callus in a hormone free medium, are described in FIG. 1 and the examples below.