Persian poppy (Papaver bracteatum Lindl.) is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Papaveraceae family that is endemic to the mountainous areas in Northern Iran. It is known for high amounts of the valuable
benzylisoquinoline alkaloid thebaine. The effects of induced
polyploidy as well as the effect of
methyl Jasmonate (MeJA) elicitation on the root production of
thebaine and on the expression of five
alkaloid biosynthesis related genes were studied. The in vitro
tetraploidy induction caused a significant increased expression of
norcoclaurine synthase (NCS) and
salutaridinol (SAT), and a significant decreased expression of
berberine bridge enzyme (BBE) in the leaves. In the root tissues, the BBE, NCS, and SAT showed an increased expression in
tetraploid plants, while
codeinone reductase (COR) showed a decreased expression. A similar alteration pattern was found in mixoploid plants when compared to their diploid counterparts. MeJA at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 mM caused a remarkable increase in the
thebaine content in the roots of treated plants, where the highest
thebaine content was identified in plants elicited with 0.5 mM MeJA. Elicitation treatment caused a substantial increase in the expression of NCS and SAT in the leaves, while it had no major effect on BBE,
codeine 3-O-demethylase (CODM) and COR. Expression analysis in the roots showed that MeJA caused a significant increase in the expression of only BBE and NCS, while expression of other studied genes remained unchanged. Our results may be exploited for improved
thebaine production and the processing of Persian poppy.