ARS | Publication request: Scutellaria biotechnology: Achievements and future prospects

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: September 10, 2010
Publication Date: October 1, 2010
Citation: Joshee, N., Prahlad, P., Medina-Bolivar, F., Rimando, A.M., Yadav, A.K. 2010. Scutellaria Biotechnology: Achievements and Future Prospects. Bulletin UASVM Horticulture. 67(1):1-10.

Interpretive Summary: Plants of the genus Scutellaria constitute one of the common components of Eastern as well as traditional American medicine. The genus is widespread in Northern Hemisphere. Many Scutellaria species (commonly known as skullcaps) are rare, threatened, or endangered. Habitat destruction, urbanization, and poor seed set are the few reasons behind diminishing population of many skullcaps. Many skullcaps have showy, beautiful blooms with great potential as ornamental plants. Skullcaps are used in alternative medicine for inflammation, ease spasms, stimulate blood flow in the pelvic area and uterus, and have beneficial effect on the nervous system. A collection of genetic resources for Scutellaria has been developed at Fort Valley State University, and plants are maintained in the greenhouse and through micropropagation. We are actively engaged in research on Scutellaria species and have made significant progress on micropropagation, transformation for desired gene transfer and hairy root induction, and chemical analysis as well as anticancer activity of select Scutellaria flavonoids.

Technical Abstract: Plants of the genus Scutellaria (Family Lamiaceae) constitute one of the common components of Eastern as well as traditional American medicine. Skullcap is a North American perennial plant belonging to the genus Scutellaria. The genus is widespread in Northern Hemisphere represented by close to 400 species. Many species are rare, threatened, or endangered. Habitat destruction, urbanization, and poor seed set are the few reasons behind diminishing population of many skullcaps. Many skullcaps have showy, beautiful blooms with great potential as ornamental plants. Skullcap are used in alternative medicine as anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, nervine, sedative and strong tonic. We have developed a germplasm collection at Fort Valley State University and the populations are maintained in the greenhouse and through micropropagation. We have made significant headway in the areas of micropropagation, transformation for desired gene transfer and hairy root induction, extraction and HPLC analysis of targeted flavonoids, and clinical role of select flavonoids using glioma cell lines.