D.H. Tejavathi*1, P. Anitha2, Savitha M. Murthy3 and R. Nijagunaiah1
Andrographis paniculata Nees commonly known as “King of bitters” is one of the promising herbs used in the treatment of several ailments including human cancers and the myriad of symptoms associated with auto immune disorders. The main active principle which is therapeutically known is Andrographolide. The beneficial effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal association with medicinal plants are well established. Both normal and micropropagated plants of A. paniculata were treated with Glomus mosseae and G. fasciculatum to study the effects of AM association on morphology and physiology of growth. General growth performance, chlorophyll, primary and secondary metabolite contents in both control and treated normal and micropropagated plants were estimated with standard procedures and comparisons were made. The percent of colonization and the number of spores in the rhizosphere of the micropropagated plants are significantly more than the normal plants. The contents of chlorophylls and the primary metabolites had enhanced in the micropropagated plants in response to the mycorrhizal association. HPLC analysis of andrographolide revealed that Glomus fasciculatum treated micropropagated plants could synthesis higher percent of the active principle followed by normal plants inoculated with the same species of Glomus. It was found that micropropagated plants inoculated with G. fasciculatum performed better than all other samples in its growth performance and contents of primary and secondary metabolites.
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