Production of bioactive compounds and gene expression alterations in hairy root cultures of chinese cabbage elicited by copper oxide nanoparticles

Chinese cabbage is an important vegetable and rich source of phytochemicals such as glucosinolates (GSLs) and phenolic compounds (PCs) that used for pharmaceutical industries. The use of hairy root cultures (HRCs) has focused significant attention on production of essential bioactive compounds. The present investigation described the influence of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) to enhance the phytochemicals (GSLs and PCs) and gene expression levels as well as their biological (antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative) activities in the HRCs of Chinese cabbage. The contents of copper were highly elevated in CuO NPs-elicited hairy roots (HRs). Glucosinolates (gluconasturtiin, glucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, neoglucobrassicin, 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin, glucoallysin, glucobrassicanapin, sinigrin, progoitrin, and gluconapin) and transcript (MYB34, MYB122, MYB28, and MYB29) levels were considerably escalated in CuO NPs-elicited HRs compared to non-elicited HRs. Moreover, phenolic compounds (flavonols, hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids) were significantly enriched in CuO NPs-elicited HRs. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents and their gene expression (PAL, CHI, and FLS) levels were highly elevated in CuO NPs-elicited HRs. Furthermore, biological (antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative) activities were significantly greater in CuO NPs-elicited HRs than non-elicited HRs. CuO NPs-elicited HRCs offered an efficient and promising in vitro technique to induce secondary metabolites (GSLs and PCs) for possible nutraceutical and pharmaceutical uses.