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Development of transgenic Artemisia annua (Chinese wormwood) plants with an enhanced content of artemisinin, an effective anti‐malarial drug, by hairpin‐RNA‐mediated gene silencing
Abstract
Artemisinin is an effective anti‐malarial drug isolated from Artemisia annua L. (Chinese wormwood), but the content of artemisinin in A. annua is low. In the present study we explored the possibility of using genetic engineering to increase the artemisinin content of A. annua by suppressing the expression of SQS (squalene synthase), a key enzyme of sterol pathway (a pathway competitive with that of artemisinin biosynthesis) by means of a hairpin‐RNA‐mediated RNAi (RNA interference) technique. A total of 23 independent transgenic A. annua plants were obtained through Agrobacterium tumefaciens‐mediated transformation, which was confirmed by PCR and Southern‐blot analyses. HPLC‐evaporative light‐scattering detection analysis showed that the artemisinin content of some transgenic plants was significantly increased, with the highest values reaching 31.4 mg/g dry weight, which is about 3.14‐fold the content observed in untransformed control plants. Real‐time reverse transcription–PCR analysis demonstrated that the expression of SQS was suppressed significantly, and GC–MS analysis showed that sterol was efficiently decreased in the transgenic plants. The present study demonstrated that genetic‐engineering strategy of RNAi is an effective means of increasing artemisinin content in plants.
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In the citing paper
“Suppression of SQS by RNAi technology mediated by hpRNA increased artemisinin content in transgenic plants while decreasing sterol content including stigmasterol, campesterol, ergosterol and β-sitosterol in the transgenic lines (Zhang et al. 2009).”
From Enhancing artemisinin content in and delivery from Artemisia annua: a review of alternative, classical, and transgenic approaches (2021) · cites this paper as Zhang et al. 2009
In the citing paper
“Zhang et al. showed that down-regulation of SQS by hairpin-RNA-mediated gene silencing in A. annua resulted in a 3-fold increased artemisinin production [49].”
From Relative expression of genes of terpene metabolism in different tissues of Artemisia annuaL (2011) · cites this paper as [49]
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The engineering of medicinal plants: Future prospects and limitations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Zhang, L., Jing, F., Li, F., Li, M., Wang, Y., Wang, G., Sun, X., & Tang, K.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Tang, Kexuan
- Venue
- Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 199-207
- ISSN
- 0885-4513 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-8744
- OpenAlex
- W1992324215
- Cited by
- 206
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 2.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant tissue culture and regeneration
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Sesquiterpenes and Asteraceae Studies
- Keywords
- Artemisia annua, artemisinin, transgenic plants, RNA interference, hairpin RNA, squalene synthase, gene silencing, sterol biosynthesis, artemisinin biosynthesis, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation
- MeSH terms
- Antimalarials, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Farnesyl-Diphosphate Farnesyltransferase, Transformation, Genetic, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Plants, Genetically Modified, Artemisia annua, RNA Interference, Artemisinins, Inverted Repeat Sequences
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