Abstract

The herb holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) is rich in essential oil, which is important in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. O. tenuiflorum grows well in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions. To induce essential oil biosynthesis, holy basil plants were exposed to cold or drought stress for 5 days. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analyses revealed that essential oil components including eugenol, methyl eugenol, and β-caryophyllene were significantly accumulated in 30-day-old juvenile and 130-day-old pre-flowering plants. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses revealed that expressional levels of OtEOMT transcript increased by almost 5-fold following the juvenile stage, and by 16.78- to 66.02-fold following the pre-flowering stage among cold-treated plants. These results suggest a biotechnological strategy to increase essential oil content by treating holy basil plants with cold or drought stress at the juvenile and pre-flowering stages.

摘要

草本圣罗勒（Ocimum tenuiflorum）富含精油，在制药，营养保健，化妆品和食品工业中很重要。Ø。tenuiflorum在热带，亚热带和温暖的温带地区生长良好。为了诱导精油生物合成，将圣罗勒植物暴露于寒冷或干旱胁迫下5天。气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）分析表明，在30天龄的未成熟和130天龄的预开花植物中，包括丁子香酚，甲基丁子香酚和β-石竹烯的精油成分大量积累。实时定量聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）分析显示OtEOMT的表达水平幼年期后，冷加工植物中的转录本增加了近5倍，预花期后增加了16.78-至66.02倍。这些结果表明，通过在幼年期和开花前期处理冷或干旱胁迫的圣罗勒植物来提高精油含量的生物技术策略。