INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS TISSUE CULTURE TECHNOLOGIES ON ESSENTIAL OIL METABOLISM

Authors: Tisserat, Brent; Vaughn, Steven; Silman, Robert

Submitted to: Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2004
Publication Date: 5/31/2005
Citation: Tisserat, B., Vaughn, S.F., Silman, R.W. 2005. Influence of various tissue culture technologies on essential oil metabolism. In: Govil, J.N., Singh, V.K., editors. Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants. Vol. 9. Plant Bioactives in Traditional Medicine. Houston, TX: Studium Press, LLC. p. 321-334.

Interpretive Summary: Plant tissue culture provides an important tool to produce pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. We studied the influence of a broad range of carbon dioxide atmospheric environments employing shoot cultures of several plant species on culture growth and secondary metabolism in order to develop a commercial method. Our results indicate that these species grow well with a broad range of carbon dioxide atmospheres. In addition, secondary metabolite levels increase as the carbon dioxide levels increase. We also employed novel tissue culture systems, such as the automated culture system, to improve plant growth and secondary metabolism. Our results suggest that carbon dioxide applications and novel culture systems promote accelerated differentiation which results in enhanced secondary metabolism which may lead to commercial applications.

Technical Abstract: Cell suspensions and callus cultures of various plants 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. Novel automated and non-automated culture systems will be presented that produce high biomass and secondary metabolism. The sterile environment is dissimilar from greenhouse and field conditions allowing for the utilization of significantly different atmospheric and nutritional treatments in order to achieve desired growth and chemical responses. For example, high levels of CO2 (i.e., >1,500 uL CO2 liter**-1) promote higher levels of growth and secondary metabolism (at multi-fold levels) in several plant species (e.g. citrus, mint, and water cress) compared to that obtained in ambient air. We envision the future development and employment of similar plant tissue culture systems as supplementary/alternative means to produce commercially important secondary metabolites.