The genetic manipulation of medicinal and aromatic plants

Abstract

Medicinal and aromatic plants have always been intimately linked with human health and culture. Plant-derived medicines constitute a substantial component of present day human healthcare systems in industrialized as well as developing countries. They are products of plant secondary metabolism and are involved in many other aspects of a plant's interaction with its immediate environment. The genetic manipulation of plants together with the establishment of in vitro plant regeneration systems facilitates efforts to engineer secondary product metabolic pathways. Advances in the cloning of genes involved in relevant pathways, the development of high throughput screening systems for chemical and biological activity, genomics tools and resources, and the recognition of a higher order of regulation of secondary plant metabolism operating at the whole plant level facilitate strategies for the effective manipulation of secondary products in plants. Here, we discuss advances in engineering metabolic pathways for specific classes of compounds in medicinal and aromatic plants and we identify remaining constraints and future prospects in the field. In particular we focus on indole, tropane, nicotine, isoquinoline alcaloids, monoterpenoids such as menthol and related compounds, diterpenoids such as taxol, sequiterpenoids such as artemisinin and aromatic amino acids.

Biosynthesis of plant‐derived flavor compounds

“…Many terpenoids have medicinal properties; consequently they are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry as antiretroviral agents or anti-malarial compounds (Modzelewska et al, 2005). As a result, modulation of terpenoid biosynthesis in medicinal and aromatic plants has received much interest (Gó mez-Galera et al, 2007;Croteau, 2001, 2002;Mahmoud et al, 2004;Muñ oz-Bertomeu et al, 2006Tadmor and Lewinsohn, 2007). Synthetic variations and derivatives of natural terpenes and terpenoids also greatly expand the variety of aromas used in perfumery and flavors used in food additives.…”

Análise qualitativa dos polissacarídeos obtidos da cultura de calos de Cereus peruvianus Mill. (Cactaceae)

“…A tecnologia do cultivo in vitro além de ser aplicada a plantas medicinais para propagação clonal pode ser utilizada para produção de culturas de calos e de células em suspensão, visando a produção de compostos de interesse farmacêutico, cosmético e alimentar 7 . Desta maneira, o cultivo in vitro de tecidos e células vegetais constitui uma alternativa promissora para o suprimento de material vegetal.…”

Collaborative networks as incubators of dynamic virtual organisations: a case study of the emerging MAP sector

“…They are considered healthy foods and a source for other natural health products; a source of chemical components for cosmetics, perfumes and medicinal products (Verpoorte et al, 1999;Gómez-Galera et al, 2007); and are raw materials for essential oils, dry/liquid extracts and oleoresins.…”