Study of hairy root formation and plant regeneration in Nicotiana tabaccum

Hairy roots are created by transforming plant cells with Agrobacterium rhizogenes and hairy roots culture is an effective method for secondary metabolites production. Stems and leaves of two cultivars of Nicotiana tabacum (kuker347 and k326) were applied as starting tissues for hairy roots induction through the four strains of A. rhizogenes. Overall, the hairy roots induction ability by A. rhizogenes varied between different strains. As a final point, A13 strain can be detected as the appropriate bacterial strain to produce hairy roots in N. tabacum. On further experiments with A13 strain, the maximum hairy roots biomass was reached in MS medium. Transformation state of hairy roots was confirmed by PCR using rolB specific primers. Hairy roots of two cultivars showed a significant rise in antioxidant enzyme activities as well as protein content. Jointly, obtained data showed that N. tabacum hairy roots can be a proper source for alkaloid production. According to our findings, regenerated plants tolerate salinity stress more than normal plants due to higher proline content as a compatible osmolyte and higher peroxidase activity as a free radical suppressor.