Flavonoids in root cultures of Scutellaria baicalensis

Hairy root cultures of Scutellaria baicalensis transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes A13 harboring beta-glucuronidase (GUS) genes were established and the flavonoid production in the tissues was determined. In six clones of the hairy roots, the contents of the glucuronide-type flavonoids were fairy low compared with those observed in the adventitious (non-transformed) roots of this plant. On the contrary, the content levels of the glucose-type flavonoids in the hairy roots were almost similar to those of the adventitious roots. The modified accumulation of the glucuronide-type flavonoids in the hairy roots was supposed to be caused by the expression of GUS genes integrated by Agrobacterium. This Agrobacterium-mediated transformation seemed to be useful for the biosynthetic study on successful modification of the flavonoid metabolism in this species.