Cellular growth dynamics and allelopathic activity in coffee cell cultures were examined as follows: First, we compared allelopathic activity of seven woody plant calli, Coffea canephora , Derris indica , Ficus carica L., Juniperus conferta , Prunus persica , Punica granatum , and Sonneratia ovata , using a modified “sandwich method bioassay” and found that coffee callus showed the strongest growth inhibition to lettuce seedling nearly 90% of hypocotyl and 96% of root. This coffee callus actively proliferated, with a 21-fold increase during five weeks of subculture, with a growth curve comprising two typical phases: a lag phase of 0 - 2 weeks of culture and an exponential phase of 3 - 5 weeks of culture. Allelopathic activity varied depending on the growth phase of the coffee callus. The strongest allelopathic activity was detected in 1 - 2-week-old callus showing nearly 100% inhibitory effect on lettuce seedling growth. As the allelopathic activity of coffee calli is extremely high, beyond the natural level in coffee leaves and green beans, we focused on analyzing the allelopathic activity of its aqueous extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography. Several prominent peaks, including two reference alkaloids, theobromine and caffeine, which are known allelochemicals in coffee plants, and three distinct unknown peaks were identified at 270 nm in coffee calli during the lag phase (1 - 2 weeks of culture). The higher value of the total phenolic content in the lag phase also suggested a key biosynthetic pathway in relation to the allelopathic activity of coffee callus will be activated in the lag phase.
Gniazdowska, A. and Bogatek, R. (2005) Allelopathic Interactions between Plants. Multi Site Action of Allelochemicals. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 27, 395-407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-005-0017-3
Fujii, Y., Parvez, S.S., Parvez, M.M., Ohmae, Y. and Iida, O. (2003) Screening of 239 Medicinal Plant Species for Allelopathic Activity Using the Sandwich Method. Weed Biology and Management, 3, 233-241. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1444-6162.2003.00111.x
Fujii, Y., Shibuya, T., Nakatani, K., Itani, T., Hiradate, S. and Parvez, M.M. (2004) Assessment Method for Allelopathic Effect from Leaf Litter Leachates. Weed Biology and Management, 4, 19-23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-6664.2003.00113.x
Tsubota, H., Kuroda, A. and Masuzaki, H.A. (2006) Preliminary Study on Allelopathic Activity of Bryophytes under Laboratory Conditions Using the Sandwich Method. Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory, 100, 517-525.
Ishii, K., Kawaoka, A. and Taniguchi, T. (2012) GMO Safety Assessment-Feasibility of Bioassay to Detect Allelopathy Using Handy Sandwich Method in Transgenic Plants. In: Çiftçi, Y.O., Eds., Transgenic Plants—Advances and Limitations, InTech, London, 470-478. https://doi.org/10.5772/30894
Mardani, H.K., Kazantseva, E.S., Onipchenko, V.G. and Fujii, Y. (2016) Evaluation of Allelopathic Activity of 178 Caucasian Plant Species. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5, 75-81. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v5i1.5631
Asis, J., Yusoff, N.A. and Nashriyah, M. (2018) Allelopathic Assessments of Ficus deltoidea Jack Varieties and Ficus microcarpa L.f. (Moraceae) on Lactuca sativa L. Seed. Journal of Agrobiotechnology, 9, 214-221.
Hogan, M.E. and Manners, G.D. (1990) Allelopathy of Small Everlasting (Antennaria microphylla). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 16, 931-939. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01016501
Watanabe, Y., Watanabe, Y., Iwai, S., Ono, Y., Ono, Y., Hiradate, S., Fujii, Y., Komai, F. and Komai, F. (2011) Development of an in Vitro System for the Evaluation of Allelopathic Activities of Asparagus Calluses. Journal of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science, 80, 82-88. https://doi.org/10.2503/jjshs1.80.82
Inoue, A., Mori, D., Minagawa, R., Fujii, Y. and Sasamoto, H. (2015) Allelopathy in a Leguminous Mangrove Plant, Derris indica: Protoplast Co-Culture Bioassay and Rotenone Effect. Natural Product Communications, 10, 747-750. https://doi.org/10.1177/1934578X1501000512
Ogita, S. and Sasamoto, H. (2017) In vitro Bioassay of Allelopathy in Four Bamboo Species; Bambusa multiplex, Phyllostachys bambusoides, P. nigra, Sasa kurilensis, Using Sandwich Method and Protoplast Co-Culture Method with Digital Image Analysis. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 8, 1699-1710. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2017.87117
Ogita, S., Asrori, M.I. and Sasamoto, H. (2020) Establishment of Pluripotent Cell Cultures to Explore Allelopathic Activity of Coffee Cells by Protoplast Co-Culture Bioassay Method. Plants, 9, Article 1170. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9091170
Asrori, M.I., Sasamoto, H. and Ogita, S. (2020) In Vitro Bioassay of Allelopathy in Robusta Coffee Callus Using Sandwich Method. Advances in Engineering Research, 194, 147-151. https://doi.org/10.2991/aer.k.200325.030
Folin, O. and Ciocalteu, V. (1927) On Tyrosine and Tryptophane Determinations in Proteins. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 73, 627-650. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9258(18)84277-6
Zhang, Q., Zhang, J., Shen, J., Silva, A., Dennis, D.A. and Barrow, C.J. (2006) A Simple 96-Well Microplate Method for Estimation of Total Polyphenol Content in Seaweeds. Journal of Applied Phycology, 18, 445-450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-006-9048-4
Santos, M.R., Ferreira, M.D. and Sarubo, V.N. (2010) Determination of Callus Growth Curve in Conilon Coffee. Revista Caatinga, 23, 133-136.
Nguyen, T.T., Nhung, D.T., Man, N.T., An, N.H. and Phuong, T.T. (2021) Optimization of Culture Conditions for Callus Proliferation of Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. Turczaninowia, 1, 63-73. https://doi.org/10.14258/turczaninowia.24.1.8
Chou, C.H. and Waller, G.R. (1980) Possible Allelopathic Constituents of Coffea arabica. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 6, 643-654. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987675
Ashihara, H. and Suzuki, T. (2004) Distribution and Biosynthesis of Caffeine in Plants. Frontiers in Bioscience: A Journal and Virtual Library, 9, 1864-1876. https://doi.org/10.2741/1367
McCarthy, A.A. and McCarthy, J.G. (2007) The Structure of Two N-Methyltransferases from the Caffeine Biosynthetic Pathway. Plant Physiology, 144, 879-889. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.106.094854
Qian, P., Guo, H., Yue, Y., Wang, L., Yang, X. and Guo, H. (2016) Understanding the Catalytic Mechanism of Xanthosine Methyltransferase in Caffeine Biosynthesis from QM/MM Molecular Dynamics and Free Energy Simulations. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 56, 1755-1761. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.6b00153
Yue, Y. and Guo, H. (2014) Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical Study of Catalytic Mechanism and Role of Key Residues in Methylation Reactions Catalyzed by Dimethylxanthine Methyltransferase in Caffeine Biosynthesis. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 54, 593-600. https://doi.org/10.1021/ci400640v
Sasamoto, H., Fujii, Y. and Ashihara, H. (2015) Effect of Purine Alkaloids on the Proliferation of Lettuce Cells Derived from Protoplasts. Natural Product Communications, 10, 751-754. https://doi.org/10.1177/1934578X1501000513
Li, Z., Wang, Q., Ruan, X., Pan, C. and Jiang, D. (2010) Phenolics and Plant Allelopathy. Molecules, 15, 8933-8952. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules15128933
Yokoyama, R., de Oliveira, M.V., Kleven, B. and Maeda, H.A. (2021) The Entry Reaction of the Plant Shikimate Pathway Is Subjected to Highly Complex Metabolite-Mediated Regulation. The Plant Cell, 33, 671-696. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koaa042