Details of the project EPI

Development and implementation of an innovative in vitro production technology for high-quality plantlets of summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum L.) – an important medicinal and ornamental plant

01-04-2023 do 31-12-2024

3 525 831,95

EFRROW - 1 934 846,40 PLN. national public funds - 1 105 930,60 PLN. own funds - 378 952,64 PLN.

https://leucojum.urk.edu.pl/

The aim of the operation is to develop and implement an innovative in vitro technology for the production of high-quality summer snowflake plantlets to be used in pharmaceutical and horticultural industries. This goal will be achieved through industrial research, development and investment activities.

The following activities will be undertaken as part of the operation: modernisation of the Vitroflora laboratory, construction of a bioreactor for the mass propagation of summer snowflake, optimisation of plant growth, bulb formation, biosynthesis of galanthamine and lycorine in vitro, acclimatisation of plantlets to ex vitro conditions.

Summer snowflake is a valuable source of galanthamine and lycorine. Galanthamine is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, and lycorine is part of cancer clinical trials. Originally, galanthamine was obtained from plants growing in natural habitats, but now the summer snowflake is a protected species. Currently, galanthamine is derived from chemical synthesis and extraction from plants, but these methods are unprofitable and inefficient. Summer snowflake is also an ornamental plant. Conventional snowflake propagation methods are inefficient and time consuming. With the growing demand for summer snowflake/galanthamine, alternative methods of producing high quality summer snowflake plantlets are needed.

The applicants from the Agricultural University have extensive experience in growing in vitro plant cultures, including those of the summer snowflake. Further, in cooperation with the Université de Lorraine in France, they have developed a protocol for determining the levels of galanthamine and lycorine that is based on LC-MS and GC-MS. They have also shown that plants obtained by somatic embryogenesis are capable of galanthamine and lycorine biosynthesis at a much higher level than the mother plants. Additionally, Vitroflora, which is part of the operational group, is the largest producer of ornamental plants in Poland and an important and respected supplier of plants in the international market. One of the strengths of the company is its specialised tissue culture laboratory.

The project will result in a process innovation (i.e. propagation technology for summer snowflake that uses in vitro cultures) and a product innovation (i.e. summer snowflake plantlets characterised by high levels of galanthamine and lycorine). The developed technology for obtaining high-quality medicinal raw material can be an alternative to chemical synthesis and sourcing from plantations. The use of tissue cultures for producing modern crops will promote rapid propagation and selection of material with high levels of galanthamine and lycorine. Bulbs obtained in vitro can also be transferred directly to pharmaceutical companies. A mass propagation protocol for the summer snowflake will increase the plant's popularity in horticulture and boost the competitiveness of Polish plantations globally. This propagation technique is suitable for ecological plantations. Further, the proposed in vitro technology can help revive the summer snowflake populations threatened by extinction.

The proposed project responds to demands in the pharmaceutical industry and horticultural production. Currently, summer snowflake is propagated conventionally – by separating daughter bulbs from the mother bulb. One mother bulb produces 10-20 adventitious bulbs in 12-15 years. However, because of generative propagation, plants flower after 5-6 years. So far, Poland has not propagated the summer snowflake on a large scale or cultivated it in plantations of medicinal and ornamental plants. This in vitro propagation technology will yield a large number of plantlets in a short time. Bulbs obtained in vitro, containing high levels of galanthamine, will be transferred to pharmaceutical companies.

plant cultivation and horticulture