Abstract

Diosgenin production in seedling and cell suspension cultures of Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright was enhanced by treatment with beauvericin obtained from its endophytic fungusFusarium redolens Dzf2. Optimal elicitation of diosgenin production by beauvericin in D. zingiberensis seedling and cell cultures was achieved when beauvericin was added to the medium at a concentration of 100 mg/L (in seedling culture) or 40 mg/L (in cell culture). By using these optimal concentrations, the diosgenin yield of the cultured seedlings reached its maximum of 5.72 mg/L that was over a 1-fold increase and the diosgenin yield of the cultured cells reached its maximum of 5.15 mg/L that was over a 3.6-fold increase.

Key words: Dioscoreaceae, Dioscorea zingiberensis, endophytic fungus, Fusarium redolensDzf2, beauvericin, seedlings, suspension cells, diosgenin production.