LED Light and Methyl Jasmonate Boost Cepharanthine in Stephania Callus Cultures
The study, published in BMC Plant Biology, found that callus cultures accumulated biomass rapidly between 15 and 35 days after subculture, while cepharanthine content peaked at 40 days. This developmental timing established the stage at which elicitor and light treatments were subsequently applied. Among the elicitors tested, 100 µM methyl jasmonate (MeJA) applied for 6 days was the most effective at enhancing cepharanthine accumulation. Light quality then provided a further boost. Under MeJA elicitation, a balanced blue-to-red LED ratio (B50R50) significantly increased cepharanthine accumulation to 1532.15 ± 52.67 µg g⁻¹ DW. The same treatment also promoted extracellular release of the alkaloid into the culture medium, a potentially useful feature for harvesting. At the molecular level, quantitative RT-PCR showed strong upregulation of two biosynthetic genes in the benzylisoquinoline…