Alkaloid Secondary Products from Catharanthus roseus Cell Suspension

Plant cell culture, the growth of plant cells on solid medium or in liquid, was originally used to study the physiology and biochemistry of plants without the complication of the whole plant. However, it was soon found that plant cell cultures were often capable of producing compounds characteristic of the original plant. Of particular interest were those compounds known as secondary products. Secondary products are poorly defined, but in general are products that are not essential for growth, but may confer some advantage. The plant kingdom produces a vast range of secondary products, many of which, such as morphine and diosgenin, are of commercial interest. Since plant cell cultures are capable of producing such compounds (1-3), they have been of interest for the development of a biotechnological process to produce these compounds. Initially, the accumulation of secondary products was fortuitous, but with selection and medium changes, high levels of the products have been achieved that in some cases exceed those found in the whole plant(2-4).