Production of secondary products in suspension culture
Many plant secondary products (Topic J5) are difficult to produce by organic
synthesis. Considerable effort has gone into using plant suspension cultures to
make them. Details of important plant secondary products are presented in
Topic J5; they are frequently produced by highly specialized cells.
Consequently, high yields in cell culture can only be obtained if the cultures
express the genes required. Frequently, this only occurs when the cells are at the
end of the culture cycle. An example of a compound successfully produced in
culture is the antimicrobial dye shikonin, produced by cultures of Coptis
japonica.
Plantgenetic manipulationis a widespread application of plant cell and
tissue culture techniques today and without it, the commercialization of
genetically modified crops would not be possible. Methods of genetic manipula-
tion are explained in section O3.O2 – Plant cell and tissue culture 251