Smoke-water and smoke-isolated butenolide (KAR1) induce the biosynthesis of tanshinones in endophytic fungus Trichoderma atroviride D16 isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza

Although treatments of smoke-water (SW) have been successfully used for promoting seed germination as well as plant growth, less reports have been documented on the influence of SW on the production of secondary metabolites in endophytes isolated from medicinal plants. The study investigated the effects of SW and its active compound butenolide (KAR1) on the accumulation of lipophilic tanshinones in endophyte Trichoderma atroviride D16 isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza. Results showed that the mycelia of T. atroviride D16 treated with SW and KAR1 displayed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the content of tanshinone I, which was evaluated with 2.26-fold (SW) and 1.86-fold (KAR1) of the control on 20 d after treatment. Comparing with the control, the treatment of SW and KAR1 resulted in a significant increase in the content of tanshinone IIA, and the highest levels were observed to be 31.87% (SW 1:2000, v/v) and 17.77% (KAR1 at 10-9 M) on 20 d after treatment. These findings imply the possibility of using SW and KAR1 for enhancing the biosynthesis of tanshinones in T. atroviride D16, and enrich the application of smoke water in the medicinal plant field.