ARS | Publication request: NOVEL PLANT TISSUE CULTURE SYSTEMS EMPLOYED AS ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO PRODUCE SECONDARY METABOLITES

Submitted to: International Conference & Exhibition of Nutraceuticals & Functional Foods
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 1, 2001
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Plant suspension and callus cultures grown in "microorganism-like" batch culture systems may produce commercially important secondary metabolites. However, many important secondary products are not obtained from these undifferentiated cultures suggesting that a correlation between plant morphology and its chemistry exists. We sought to develop culture systems growing morphologically "suitable" plantlets that manifest high secondary metabolite levels. Several novel automated and non-automated culture systems will be presented that have been demonstrated to allow for high biomass and secondary metabolism. The sterile environment is dissimilar from greenhouse and field conditions resulting in utilization of significantly different atmospheric and nutritional treatments in order to achieve desired growth and chemical responses. For example, ultra-high levels of CO2 (i.e., >3,000 uL CO2 Liter**-1) promote growth and secondary metabolism (at multi-fold levels) in several plant cultures (e.g., Spearmint, thyme, water cress). We envision the future development and employment of suitable plant tissue culture systems as supplementary/alternative means to produce commercially important secondary metabolites.