Bioprocessing of Plant In Vitro Systems

Abstract

Mass phytochemical production in biotechnological platforms based on plant cell and organ cultures provides an alternative to the field cultivation of plants. The system is being successfully applied to produce plant bioactive compounds scarce in nature, including taxol, a potent chemotherapeutic agent, and its analogs. Additionally, plant cell cultures are a potent tool to shed light on the biosynthesis of phytochemicals and its control. Several studies with Taxus spp. cell cultures, focused on increasing taxane production, have gained considerable molecular understanding of how these compounds are metabolized in the target cell cultures, particularly by the application of omics tools. This chapter summarizes the state of the art in the biotechnological production of taxol and related taxanes used for the semisynthesis of a new taxane generation. Special emphasis is given to the application of the latest cutting-edge technologies that reveal the molecular changes taking place in plant cells subjected to optimized conditions for taxane biosynthesis and accumulation.