Establishment of Hairy Roots of Endangered Himalayan Plant Swertia chirata : A Sustainable Alternative to Extraction from Nature

Swertia chirata Buch.-Ham. ex Wall. (Gentianaceae) is a critically endangered Himalayan medicinal herb that grows in shady moist slopes beneath tall trees in subtropical and temperate forests. The herb produces a diverse range of bioactive metabolites that are responsible for equally diverse medicinal properties. Habitat destruction and illegal harvesting of the plant, specifically the roots of this plant for medicinal uses, have brought the plant on the verge of extinction. Establishment of hairy root culture of Swertia chirata, through the use of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, provides a sustainable alternative. Hairy roots can be cultivated almost indefinitely without changes in genetic structure and do not require addition of plant growth factors in the medium, and the metabolite biosynthesis can be manipulated through addition of specific elicitors in the tissue culture medium. In this chapter, we provide detailed protocol optimized in our lab for induction and maintenance of hairy root culture of Swertia chirata, along with the optimized protocols for extraction and quantification of key metabolites.