Woodfordia fruticosa (L.) Kurz: in vitro biotechnological interventions and perspectives

• Published in: Applied microbiology and biotechnology 2023-10, Vol.107 (19), p.5855-5871
• Main Authors: Aileni, Mahender, Bulle, Mallesham, Malavath, Ramesh Naik, Thurpu, Satyamraj, Bandaram, Kiranmayi, Balkampeta, Bhargavi, Marri, Meghana, Singasani, Vijaya Simha Reddy, Murthy, E. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analgesics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Botanical research; Chemical properties; Constituents; Endangered plants; Endangered species; Flowering; Flowers & plants; Genetic aspects; Genetic engineering; Genetic transformation; Genome editing; Genomes; Herbal medicine; Immunomodulation; In vitro methods and tests; Inflammation; Life Sciences; Lythraceae; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Mini-Review; Peptic ulcers; Physiological aspects; Plant biotechnology; Plant genetic engineering; Plant metabolites; Plant species; Plants (botany); Production processes; Propagation; Regeneration; Secondary metabolites; Seeds; Soil sciences; Ulcers; Woodfordia fruticosa; Wound healing
• ISSN: 0175-7598; 1432-0614
• DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12695-x

Woodfordia fruticosa (L.) Kurz is a woody medicinal shrub (Lythraceae) commonly known as the “fire flame bush.” W. fruticosa plant parts either alone or whole plant have a long history of recommended use in the Indian medicine systems of Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha (AUS). This plant is prominently known for its pharmacological properties, viz., antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-peptic ulcer, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, antitumor, cardioprotective, analgesic, and wound healing activities. Its important phyto-constituents, woodfordin C, woodfordin I, oenothein B, and isoschimacoalin-A, exhibit in vitro or in vivo physiological activities beneficial to human health. As the plant is a rich storehouse of phyto-constituents, it is indiscriminately used in its wild habitats. Moreover, due to very poor seed viability and difficult-to-root qualities, it is placed under IUCN list of endangered plant species. For W. fruticosa , biomass production or to its conservation by in vitro regeneration is the best feasible alternative. Till date, only few important in vitro regeneration methods are reported in W. fruticosa. ISSR molecular markers based clonal fidelity and Agrobacterium -mediated transformation has been demonstrated, indicating that W. fruticosa is amenable to genetic manipulation and genome editing studies. This review presents concise summary of updated reports on W. fruticosa phyto-constituents and their biological activities, while a critical appraisal of biotechnological interventions, shortcomings, and factors influencing such potential areas success was presented. The unexplored gaps addressed here are relevant for W. fruticosa scientific innovations yet to come. In this paper, for the first time, we have presented a simple and reproducible protocol for synthetic seed production in W. fruticosa. Key points • Critical and updated records on W. fruticosa phytochemistry and its activities • In vitro propagation and elicitation of secondary metabolites in W. fruticosa • Key bottlenecks, in vitro flowering, value addition, and outlook in W. fruticosa Graphical abstract