Abstract
Medicinal plants are the most important source of life saving drugs for the majority of the world's population. The biotechnological tools are important to select, multiply and conserve the critical genotypes of medicinal plants. In-vitro regeneration holds tremendous potential for the production of high-quality plant-based medicine. Cryopreservation is long-term conservation method in liquid nitrogen and provides an opportunity for conservation of endangered medicinal plants. In-vitro production of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures has been reported from various medicinal plants. Bioreactors are the key step towards commercial production of secondary metabolites by plant biotechnology. Genetic transformation may be a powerful tool for enhancing the productivity of novel secondary metabolites; especially by Agrobacterium rhizogenes induced hairy roots. This article discusses the applications of biotechnology for regeneration and genetic transformation for enhancement of secondary metabolite production in-vitro from medicinal plants. Key words: Bioreactors; genetic transformation; regeneration; secondary metabolites Abbreviations: BA: 6-Benzylaminopurine; TDZ: 1-Phenyl-3-(1,2,3-thiadiazol-5-yl) urea; NAA: a-Naphthaleneacetic acid; IAA: Indole-3 acetic acid; 2iP: 6-(g-Dimethylallylamino) purine; 2,4-D: 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; GA3: Gibberellic acid Trop J Pharm Res , December 2003; 2(2): 243-253
Highlights
Plants have been an important source of medicine for thousands of years
Highfrequency somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from suspension cultures of Acanthopanax koreanum have been reported on a medium containing 4.5 μM 2,4-D44
The production of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures has been reported from various medicinal plants
Summary
Plants have been an important source of medicine for thousands of years. Even today, the World Health Organization estimates that up to 80 per cent of people still rely mainly on traditional remedies such as herbs for their medicines. Biotechnological tools are important for multiplication and genetic enhancement of the medicinal plants by adopting techniques such as in-vitro regeneration and genetic transformations It can be harnessed for production of secondary metabolites using plants as bioreactors. This paper reviews the achievements and advances in the application of tissue culture and genetic engineering for the in-vitro regeneration of medicinal plants from various explants and enhanced production of secondary metabolites. In-vitro propagation of plants holds tremendous potential for the production of high-quality plant-based medicines[4] This can be achieved through different methods including micropropagation. Successful plant regeneration was reported from stem and leaf-derived callus of Centella asiatica on MS medium supplemented with 4.0 mg/L BA, 2.0 mg/L kinetin, 0.25 mg/L NAA, and 20 mg/L adenine sulfate[34]. Pande et al have reported the in-vitro regeneration of Lepidium sativum from various explants on medium supplemented with BA and NAA37
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