Abstract
Panax notoginseng is a valuable medicinal herb, but its sustainable production is constrained by long cultivation cycles and continuous cropping obstacles. Adventitious root culture presents a viable alternative. This study establishes a robust and sustainable platform for the efficient production of ginsenosides in P. notoginseng adventitious root cultures. We first systematically optimized the culture system, identifying leaf segments as the optimal explant due to their high callus induction rate (95.77%), low contamination, and renewable nature. Combined with optimized bioprocess parameters (3 g/L inoculation density, 50 g/L sucrose), this strategy addressed key practical bottlenecks. Beyond methodological advancement, our research provides novel mechanistic insights into the action of methyl jasmonate (MeJA). A key finding is the discovery that MeJA functions as a 'precision metabolic switch,' differentially regulating a critical branch point in the saponin pathway. It coordinately upregulates the protopanaxadiol (PPD)-type gene CYP716A47 while downregulating the protopanaxatriol (PPT)-type gene CYP716A53v2 that genetically explains the directed enrichment of specific ginsenosides. This integrated approach not only advances the fundamental understanding of elicitor action but also provides a scalable and controllable system for the industrial production of P. notoginseng phytopharmaceuticals with tailored saponin profiles.