Hairy Roots, their Multiple Applications and Recent Patents

Abstract

In the last years, hairy root (HR) cultures are gaining attention in the biotechnology industry. This particular plant cell culture derives from explants infected with Agrobacterium rhizogenes. They constitute a relatively new approach to in vitro plant biotechnology and modern HR cultures are far away from the valuables findings performed by Philip R. White in the 1930's, who obtained indefinite growth of excised root tips. HR cultures are characterized by genetic and biochemical stability and high growth rate without expensive exogenous hormones source. HR cultures have allowed a deep study of plant metabolic pathways and the production of valuable secondary metabolites and enzymes, with therapeutic or industrial application. Furthermore, the potential of HR cultures is increasing continuously since different biotechnological strategies such as genetic engineering, elicitation and metabolic traps are currently being explored for discovery of new metabolites and pathways, as well as for increasing metabolites biosynthesis and/or secretion. Advances in design of proper bioreactors for HR growth are being of great interest, since scale up of metabolite production will allow the integration of this technology to industrial processes. Another application of HR cultures is related to their capabilities to biotransform and to degrade different xenobiotics. In this context, removal assays using this plant model system are useful tools for phytoremediation assays, previous to the application in the field. This review highlights the more recent application of HRs and those new patents which show their multiple utilities.

Advances in Boerhaavia diffusa hairy root technology: a valuable pursuit for identifying strain sensitivity and up-scaling factors to refine metabolite yield and bioactivity potentials

“…To the best of our knowledge, this study also provides the first evidence of superior antiinflammatory activity of the hairy root extracts compared to that of the control roots, indicating its potential to rejuvenate the cells by decelerating oxidative stress. The current strategically tailored protocols further ascertained improvements in the synthesis of the two targeted molecules through efficient up-scaling in bioreactor, which added much commercial merit to this study in view of the contemporary HR-based commercial venture in the name of Rootec® (Talano et al 2012). In view of the credible assertion of the stability of hairy root cultures in sustaining long-term productivity of desired metabolites along with settlement of cost-related concerns as documented recently (Pandey et al 2014), the present findings bear distinctive significance to sustain the boosted demand of this time-honoured medicinal plant for future drug development in the years to come.…”

“…As a result of concerted global research efforts for more than three decades, hairy root has now been recognized as the most proficient alternative as sources of valuable phytomolecules of industrial demand, as it also adheres to the commercial obligation of biosynthetic stability, cost efficiency, long-term production uniformity and amenability for scale-up cultivation in bioreactors (Ono and Tian 2011). In recent years, a universal consensus has finally been achieved concerning the industrial applicability of hairy root culture as a strategic production alternative of raw materials and their associated metabolites through the advent of a Swiss company called ROOTec Bioactives (Talano et al 2012). It is however disheartening to note that the hairy root culture system is relatively underutilized in B. diffusa and phytochemically the same remained uncharted so far.…”

Enhancing the Secretion of a Glyco-Engineered Anti-CD20 scFv-Fc Antibody in Hairy Root Cultures

“…Expression of therapeutic proteins in in vitro plant systems under contained conditions represents an advantageous manufacturing strategy in terms of uniform cultivation conditions, product quality and downstream purification processes . Hairy root cultures represent a valid alternative to plant cell cultures due to their time efficiency in establishing transgenic lines, intrinsic genetic stability, fast biomass accumulation and manufacturing scalability . There are several examples in the literature of heterologous proteins successfully produced in hairy root cultures .…”

A Review on Bioreactor Technology Assisted Plant Suspension Culture

“…Each bioreactors is fitted with valves. The transfer tube and pump are used to connect the bioreactors [28] (Fig. 3).…”

“…It is the temperature quickly from C in the same vessel, therefore we use this reactor. Each bioreactors is fitted with transfer tube and pump are used to connect the bioreactors [28] (Fig. 3).…”