Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Inducing Hairy Roots by Agrobacterium rhizogenes-Mediated Transformation in Tartary Buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum)
Published on: March 11, 2020
Microbial transformation of asiatic acid
Fei-Fei Guo1, Xu Feng, Zhi-Yong Chu
1Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.
Abstract:
Asiatic acid (1), a major pentacyclic triterpene of Centella asiatica, was subjected to transformation by Penicillium lilacinum ACCC 31890, Fusarium equiseti CGMCC 3.3658, and Streptomyces griseus CGMCC 4.18 strains. Incubation of asiatic acid with P. lilacinum ACCC 31890 and F. equiseti CGMCC 3.3658 gave an identical product: 2α,3β,15α,23-tetrahydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid (2). Biotransformation of asiatic acid by S. griseus CGMCC 4.18 resulted in three derivatives: 2α,3β,21β,23-tetrahydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid (3), 2α,3β,23-trihydroxyurs-12-en-28, 30-dioic acid (4), and 2α,3β,23,30-tetrahydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid (5). The structures of those derivatives were deduced from their spectral data. Products (2), (3), and (4) were new compounds. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxicities of those derivatives along with 1 were evaluated with several human cancer cell lines.
Related Concept Videos
Transformation
Production of Organic Acids
Bacterial Transformation
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...
Microbes in the Production of Fermented Foods
Amino Acid Catabolism
Microbes and Methanogenesis

