In Vitro Micropropagation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Abstract

Modern biotechnological methods like in vitro micropropagation technique hold tremendous potential for the production of high-quality plant-based medicine. They also allow to achieve the large scale multiplication of diseasefree plants, faster cloning and the conservation of desired genotypes, in a very short span of time. Via genetic transformation techniques, the modification of both genetic information of MAPs and the regulation of genes responsible for the production of valuable biologically active substances has also become possible in either higher amounts or with better properties.Micropropagation protocols are worked out for many plant species cultured in vitro to provide macro-and micro-mineral nutrients, vitamins, source of carbohydrates, appropriate environmental conditions (light intensity, photoperiod and temperature) and plant growth regulators required to obtain high regeneration rates. As such they are expected to facilitate commercially feasible micropropagation. Well-defined cell culture methods have also been developed to produce pharmacologically important secondary metabolites. Genetic engineering is applied to produce transgenic medicinal plants and metabolites.This chapter offers a brief insight into the present status of the biotechnology of MAPs. Special emphasis has been placed on the in vitro micropropagation and rapid clonal multiplication of selected elite genotypes, the regulation of organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis, the exploitation of advantages in somaclonal variation and genetic engineering techniques for both crop improvement and in vitro germplasm conservation. The production of flavor and volatile constituents in tissue cultures will also be briefly discussed, similarly to the application of farther biotechnological approaches.

Micropropagation of Alocasia longiloba Miq and Comparative Antioxidant Properties of Ethanolic Extracts of the Field-Grown Plant, In Vitro Propagated and In Vitro-Derived Callus

“…Therefore, there is a great need for in vitro culture for secondary metabolite production. In vitro culture techniques can eliminate the need to rely on wild plants and can alleviate pressure on wild populations [ 6 , 7 ]. However, the high costs of in vitro technology compared with conventional methods and the uncertainty of market demand have limited the use of in vitro techniques at commercial level [ 8 ].…”

“…These include many terpenes, alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, steroids and saponins and others [ 3 , 13 ]. The main advantage of in vitro production of secondary metabolites is that the amount of secondary metabolites produced in in vitro is greater than in parent field-grown plant parts [ 6 , 7 ]. In addition, it is possible to produce novel bioactive compounds that are not normally found in mother plants [ 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds are the most abundant in plant and playing major roles in plant’s defense mechanisms. The phenolic compound extracted from plants have been shown to provide many biologic activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer [ 7 ].…”

Recent advances and novelties in the thin cell layer-based plant biotechnology – a mini-review

“…Tissue culture and micropropagation of medicinal plants form the basis for their industrial use and biotransformation, commercialization of their active compounds, or preservation of genetic resources (Máthé et al, 2015). Recently, four studies using TCLs on medicinal plants were conducted, namely Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennell (Croom et al, 2016), Scutellaria ocmulgee Small (Vaidya et al 2016), Urginea altissima (L.f.) Baker (Baskaran et al, 2018), and Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal (Tripathi et al, 2018).…”

Biotechnological advances in Vitex species, and future perspectives

“…Somatic embryos, which morphologically resemble zygotic embryos, are used as a model system in embryological studies [58]. However, the greatest importance of somatic embryos, in medicinal plant biotechnology, is their practical application in large-scale vegetative propagation; in some cases, somatic embryogenesis is favoured over other methods of vegetative propagation because of the possibility of scaling up propagation by using bioreactors while somatic embryos or embryogenic cultures can be cryopreserved, allowing gene banks to be established while embryogenic cultures are also an attractive target for genetic modification [61]. Dadjo et al Dadjo et al [29] induced somatic embryos from leaf explants of V. doniana on ½ MS medium supplemented with 0.50 μM thidiazuron, 5.55 μM myo -inositol, and 49.74 μM silver nitrate or 6.25 μM tryptophan, but the conversion of somatic embryos to plantlets and field transfer and survival were not reported.…”