Genetic diversity assessment and biotechnological aspects in Aristolochia spp.

Aristolochia, belonging to the family Aristolochiaceae, has immense ecological significance due to its large size and huge geographic distribution. In the context of dealing with a genus with a huge number of species like Aristolochia, these markers come in handy to precisely identify a particular species and enumerate the genetic diversity. Also, certain species of Aristolochia are economically important due to the presence of secondary metabolites and vast use in traditional and modern medicine. But, the presence of profitable biochemical constituents in Aristolochia is very low and the breeding process of the plant is highly dependable on pollinators. Hence, identifying different biotechnological approaches to fasten the reproductive cycle of Aristolochia and increase the secondary metabolites is of great interest to the researchers. In this study, a comprehensive review has been established on different types of morphological/anatomical markers (starch grains with "Maltese cross"), phytochemical markers (aristolochic acid, triterpenoid, aristolactam etc.) and genetic markers (ISSR, SSR, DNA bar-coding) for various Aristolochia spp. We have also discussed the applications of different biotechnological tools in Aristolochia spp. which include discrete approaches to promote in vitro germination, in vitro shooting, root induction, somatic embryogenesis, synthetic seed production, acclimatization and hardening and sustainable production of secondary metabolites. In a nutshell, the present review is a first of kind approach to comprehensively demonstrate the genetic diversity studies and biotechnological aspects in Aristolochia spp. KEY POINTS: • Insights into the in vitro propagation of Aristolochia spp. • In vitro production and optimization of secondary metabolites. • Assessment of genetic diversity by molecular markers.