Abstract
Artemisinin, a potent antimalarial drug and a major constituent of Artemisia, is effective against quinine resistant strains of Plasmodium. The aim of the present study was to enhance artemisinin production in the roots of Artemisia dubia through transformation with rol genes by using Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing pRT99 and Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain LBA8196 and 9402 harboring rol ABC genes were used for the transformation experiments. PCR and Southern hybridization confirmed the T-DNA integration events in Artemisia dubia roots. The transformed roots proliferated two fold more as compared to untransformed roots. After 30 days of roots proliferation, the HPLC analysis showed higher concentration of artemisinin (36.581 mu g/g DW) in roots of Artemisia dubia transformed with A. rhizogenes (strain 9402) compared to that of roots transformed with A. tumefaciens (0.855 mu g/g DW) while no artemisinin was observed in control roots.