Interaction of bacterial extracts with in vitro plant cells for inducing production of secondary metabolites: A review

Abstract

Medicinal and aromatic plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites which are used as active constituents in pharmaceutical industries and traditional medicine. Secondary metabolites are economically important as drugs, flavor and fragrances, dye and pigments, pesticides, and food additives. Production of secondary metabolites is dependent on various factors such as age, part where it is produced, environmental factors and soil microorganisms. Recent evidences showed that microorganisms used in plant growth promotion also have effect on secondary metabolite production. The increasing commercial demand of secondary metabolites has resulted in production of bioactive plant metabolites by means of microbial inoculation. The microbial inoculants induce secondary metabolite production through elicitors which are components of their cell structure, since biotic in origin are termed as biotic elicitors. The biotic elicitors are responsible for secondary metabolite production in medicinal plants hence they are harnessed in callus culture, hairy root culture and in biotechnological methods of secondary metabolite production in medicinal plants. The significance of microbial elicitors in enhancing the production of high value plant compounds are discussed in this review.