Blue light regulates terpenoid biosynthesis via jasmonic acid signaling in the medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata.
Li D, Li F, Lai Z, Qi Q, Li J
Plant Signaling
PubMedIt suggests that the healing potency of medicinal herbs you grow or buy could one day be enhanced simply by controlling the color of light they're exposed to — no genetic engineering required.
King of bitters is a medicinal plant prized in traditional medicine for fighting inflammation. Researchers found that when the plant senses blue light, it kicks off a molecular chain reaction — first a light-sensing protein switches on, then it teams up with a stress-response protein, and together they crank up production of the plant's healing compounds. This opens the door to growing more potent medicinal herbs just by tweaking their lighting conditions.
Key Findings
Blue light exposure significantly increased levels of two key anti-inflammatory compounds — andrographolide and 14-deoxyandrographolide — in king of bitters plants.
A light-sensing protein (HY5) was found to directly switch on at least three genes in the plant's healing-compound production pathway and physically partner with a stress-hormone protein (MYC2) to amplify the effect.
Silencing either the HY5 or MYC2 genes reduced healing compound production, while overexpressing either gene boosted it, confirming both are essential control switches.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that exposing a medicinal plant called king of bitters to blue light boosts production of its powerful anti-inflammatory compounds by activating a chain reaction involving light-sensing proteins and a plant stress hormone.
Abstract Preview
The medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata has garnered attention for its remarkable effectiveness in treating inflammation, which is attributed to its active terpenoid compounds. However, the reg...
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Andrographis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. They may be generally known as the false waterwillows, and several are called periyanagai.