Investigation of some secondary metabolites in citrus fruits by biotechnological and classical methods and genes involved in synthesis by molecular methods

In this thesis, the production of secondary metabolites in some citrus fruits using classical and biotechnological methods and the genes playing a role in synthesis were investigated. Essential oils were obtained from peels of the varieties of mandarin, lemon, orange, sour orange and grapefruit and their chemical compositions were analyzed. D-lemonene was the major compound and found to be higher in oranges. It was found that d-limonene was the major compound and was higher in oranges. Grapefruit and orange fruit explants have been used in callus cultures. In the biotechnological production of the metabolites, solid and suspension Murashige & Tucker (MT) media supplemented with different plant growth regulators were used. To increase the production of metabolites, sucrose, methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and darkness were applied. The metabolites were extracted from the callus and the total phenolic and naringin amounts were analyzed by instrumental analysis. As a result, it has been observed that grapefruit and albedo explants are more appropriate. It has been found that sucrose 40 g/L was less effective in elicitor applications, while 20-30 g/L sucrose and 10 μM MeJA were more effective in metabolite production. RNA-Seq analyses were performed with Illumina HiSeqTM 2000 for the detection of genes involved in the synthesis.