Biotechnological Intervention and Withanolide Production in Withania coagulans
Zishan Ahmad, Arjumend Shaheen, Adla Wasi, Shamsur Rehman, Sabaha Tahseen, Muthusamy Ramakrishnan, Anamica Upadhyay, Irfan Bashir Ganie, Anwar Shahzad, Yulong Ding
Abstract
Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal is used in traditional medicine to treat diseases and has numerous pharmacological properties due to its biological compounds. The plant is a subshrub native to Asia, especially the tropical and temperate regions of western Asia. Its medicinal effects derive from its biological components, which are linked to human health. Conventional medicine uses these compounds to treat a variety of diseases, such as neurological issues, diabetes, and asthma. The long-term benefits of W. coagulans necessitate conservation strategies and plant biotechnological techniques such as micropropagation, synthetic seed, cell suspension, and hairy root elicitation technology, and genetic transformation can all play significant roles in conservation and sustainable utilization of the biological compounds for clinical uses. The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the W. cogaulans medicinal properties, potential applications, and innovative approaches for sustainable utilization, making it a unique contribution to the existing body of knowledge. Multi-omics methods for the production of withanolides were also examined in order to gain a better understanding of the genome structure, prospective genes, and candidate proteins involved in the production.