Chemical Compounds Emitted from Mentha spicata Repel Aromia bungii Females

A Comprehensive Review of the Key Characteristics of the Genus Mentha, Natural Compounds and Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Secondary Metabolites

Context

The genus Mentha is one of the most aromatic and well-known members of the Lamiaceae family. A wide range of bioactive compounds has been reported in mints. Regarding the high economic importance of Mentha plants due to the presence of valuable metabolites, the demand for their products is growing exponentially. Therefore, to supply such demand, new strategies should be adopted to improve the yield and medicinal quality of the products.

Evidence Acquisition

The current review is written based on scientific literature obtained from online databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science regarding the characteristic features of some species of the genus Mentha, their distribution and cultivation, main uses and benefits, phytochemical composition, biotechnological approaches for the production of secondary metabolites, and strategies for enhanced production of mints secondary metabolites.

Results

In this article, we offer an overview of the key characteristics, natural compounds, biological properties, and medicinal uses of the genus Mentha. Current research describes biotechnological techniques such as in vitro culture methods for the production of high-value secondary metabolites. This review also highlights the strategies such as elicitation, genetic, and metabolic engineering to improve the secondary compounds production level in mint plants. Overall, it can be concluded that identifying the biosynthetic pathways, leading to the accumulation of pharmaceutically important bioactive compounds, has paved the way for developing highly productive mint plants with improved phytochemical profiles.

Functional Study on Cytochrome P450 in Response to L(-)-Carvone Stress in Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (PWN) causes pine wilt disease (PWD), which is one of the most devastating pine diseases worldwide. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) catalyzes the biosynthetic metabolism of terpenoids and plays an important role in the modification of secondary metabolites in all living organisms. We investigated the molecular characteristics and biological functions of Bx-cyp29A3 in B. xylophilus. The bioinformatics analysis results indicated that Bx-cyp29A3 has a transmembrane domain and could dock with L(-)-carvone. The gene expression pattern indicated that Bx-cyp29A3 was expressed in 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mg/mL L(-)-carvone solutions. The Bx-cyp29A3 expression increased in a dose-dependent manner and peaked at 24 h of exposure when the L(-)-carvone solution concentration was 0.8 mg/mL. However, the gene expression peaked at 0.6 mg/mL after 36 h. Furthermore, RNA interference (RNAi) indicated that Bx-cyp29A3 played an essential role in the response to L(-)-carvone. The mortality rates of the Bx-cyp29A3 knockdown groups were higher than those of the control groups in the 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 mg/mL carvone solutions after 24 h of exposure or 36 h of exposure. In summary, bioinformatics provided the structural characteristics and conserved sequence properties of Bx-cyp29A3 and its encoded protein, which provided a target gene for the study of the P450 family of B. xylophilus. Gene silencing experiments clarified the function of Bx-cyp29A3 in the immune defense of B. xylophilus. This study provides a basis for the screening of new molecular targets for the prevention and management of B. xylophilus.