mansoureh ahmadi livani

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is an herbaceous plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, which is one of the valuable medicinal plants that its usage effect has been confirmed in preventing migraine remedy by reducing the swelling, pain and the spasm of the blood vessels. Parthenolide is one of the most important sesquiterpene lactone in feverfew, which contains more than 85% of the total sesquiterpene in this plant and is known as the effective material in this plant. The aim of the present study was to investigate the gene expression of Germacrene A Synthase Tp (GAS) in Feverfew plants under salinity stress and Parthenolide amount changes by HPLC and essence compound by GC/MS method. In the present study, young leaves of Feverfew were placed under different salinity levels (zero salinity EC=3.2, mild salinity EC=6.1, average salinity EC=8.4 and severe salinity EC=10.2). Additionally, the changes in the expression of Germacrene A Synthase Tp (GAS) was investigated using Real Time PCR. The content of produced Parthenolide in leaves was measured by HPLC extraction and essence percentage was measured using GC/MS instrument. The results demonstrated that there was a significant increase in the expression of the studied genes in the leaves of plants under salinity stress compared to the control plants (p≤0.01). Moreover, the highest expression of GAS gene was observed in severe and moderate salinity treatments. Significantly changes in gene expression was accordance with changes in the amount of produced Parthenolide in leaves. Moreover, the essence percentage under stress condition (0.66%) was more than control (0.49%).

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is belonging to the Asteraceae family that was traditionally used as a fever and the most important constituent of the sesquiterpene lactones is Parthenolide. Parthenolide, a lactone germacranolide, is very important in preventing migraine and cancer treatment due to its medical value and pharmacological activity in particular. In the present study, young and mature leaves of Feverfew were at different salinity levels (control: EC = 3.2(Ds/m), mild salinity EC = 6.1, moderate salinity EC = 8.4 and severe salinity EC = 10.2). In order to study the changes in the expression of biosynthetic pathway genes, parthenolide, germinal A synthetase (GAS) and parthenolide synthetase (PTS) were evaluated by Real Time PCR method. The amount of parthenolide produced in the leaves was determined by HPLC extraction method using standard parthenolide curve and essential essence percentage by GC / MS. The results showed increased expression of the studied genes in young and mature leaves under salinity stress compared to control plants. The highest gene expression (TpPTS) was observed in young leaves in severe salinity (Ec = 10.2) and in adult leaves in severe salinity (Ec = 10.2) and moderate salinity (Ec = 8.4). Adult was related to severe and moderate salinity treatments. Also, according to the present study, the highest expression of TpGAS gene in young and adult leaves was related to severe and moderate salinity treatments. Also, according to the present study, the highest and lowest amount of parthenolide produced in young leaves belonged to severe salinity treatment (1.5mg / g essence) and control (0.2mg / g essence), respectively.  In adult leaves, the highest amount of parthenolide belonged to severe salinity treatment (1.5mg / g essence) and lowest belonged to control (0.1mg / g essence). The results of correlation between partitioning of germakren A synthetase and parthenolide synthetase genes was a positive correlation between the partitioning of germakren A synthetase and parthenolide synthetase genes.