IMPROVEMENT OF ARTEMISININ PRODUCTION BY DIFFERENT BIOTIC ELICITORS IN Artemisia annua BY ELICITATION–INFILTRATION METHOD

Abstract. Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone; is one of the most well–known secondary metabolites with multi–functional therapeutic effects which is isolated from Artemisia annua. Due to low levels of artemisinin in this plant, efforts are being made to optimize its production by various strategies such as elicitation–infiltration. This is a procedure in which, elicitors are injected to the plants by fine–needles directly. In this study, we identified the effect of bacterial and fungal elicitors on artemisinin level and biomass accumulation in A. annua. Artemisinin content was measured by high performance thin layer chromatography. The maximum level of artemisinin was accomplished by injection of 0.4 mg total sugar/ml F. oxysporum and B. cereus decreased artemisinin content in comparison to the controls. 1 McFarland S. aureus was the most successful elicitor, increasing the fresh weight 1.34 fold over the controls. Keyword: artemisinin, elicitor, elicitation–infiltration, secondary metabolite