{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T18:24:47Z","timestamp":1775759087657,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]],"date-time":"2025-08-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755561600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia (FCT)","award":["05748"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["05748"]}]},{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia (FCT)","award":["NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085"]}]},{"name":"Sistema de Apoio \u00e0 Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Cient\u00edfica e Tecnol\u00f3gica","award":["05748"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["05748"]}]},{"name":"Sistema de Apoio \u00e0 Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Cient\u00edfica e Tecnol\u00f3gica","award":["NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085"]}]},{"name":"Viveiros Vitor Louren\u00e7o","award":["05748"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["05748"]}]},{"name":"Viveiros Vitor Louren\u00e7o","award":["NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Plants are promising biofactories for high-value compounds, and integrating vertical farming (VF) with plant molecular farming (PMF) enhances the efficiency and sustainability of these systems. Catharanthus roseus (L.) is the only natural source of vinblastine (VLB) and vincristine (VCR), key anticancer alkaloids used in chemotherapy. This study assessed the morpho-physiological responses and the organ-specific anticancer-related terpenoid indole alkaloid (TIA) production in nine C. roseus cultivars grown in a VF system. Results revealed a significant intraspecific variability (between and within plant series) concerning both plant growth and alkaloid profile. Although total anticancer-related TIA concentration was 1.6- to 5.9-fold higher in leaves than in flowers, the key anticancer alkaloids VLB and VCR exhibited distinct patterns depending on the cultivar, with \u2018C-Red\u2019 showing a higher concentration of both alkaloids in leaves, while \u2018C-XDR-PN\u2019 and \u2018C-XDR-WT\u2019 had a significantly higher concentration of VCR in flowers (3.15 and 4.05-times higher, respectively). This cultivar-dependent variability, in the production of specific anticancer alkaloids, highlights the importance of a proper cultivar selection for their commercial production. Our findings show that VCR concentration may serve as a more reliable cultivar selection marker for anticancer alkaloid yield than total biomass or overall TIA content in VF systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants14162576","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]],"date-time":"2025-08-19T10:59:01Z","timestamp":1755601141000},"page":"2576","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Phenotypic Variability and Anticancer Alkaloid Profiles of Catharanthus roseus Cultivars Grown Under a Vertical Farming System"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Marisa S. C.","family":"Louren\u00e7o","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenUPorto\u2014Sustainable Agrifood Production Research Centre\/Inov4Agro, DGAOT, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Campus de Vair\u00e3o, Rua da Agr\u00e1ria 747, 4485-646 Vair\u00e3o, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Victor","family":"Freitas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"REQUIMTE\u2014Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8731-7195","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ep","family":"Heuvelink","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Horticulture and Product Physiology Group, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7157-1079","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana M. P.","family":"Carvalho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GreenUPorto\u2014Sustainable Agrifood Production Research Centre\/Inov4Agro, DGAOT, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Campus de Vair\u00e3o, Rua da Agr\u00e1ria 747, 4485-646 Vair\u00e3o, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sowmya, C., Anand, M., Indu Rani, C., Amuthaselvi, G., and Janaki, P. (2024). Recent developments and inventive approaches in vertical farming. Front. Sustain. Food Syst., 8.","DOI":"10.3389\/fsufs.2024.1400787"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Barnum, C.R., Endelman, B.J., and Shih, P.M. (2021). Utilizing plant synthetic biology to improve human health and wellness. Front. 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