Browsing by Subject "In vitro cultures"

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    Bioactivity of phytosterols and their production in plant in vitro cultures
    (American Chemical Society, 2016-09-12) Almagro Romero, Lorena; Miras Moreno, Begoña; Pedreño García, María Ángeles; Sabater Jara, Ana Belén; Biología Vegetal
    Phytosterols are a kind of plant metabolite belonging to the triterpene family. These compounds are essential biomolecules for human health, and so they must be taken from foods. β-Sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol are the main phytosterols found in plants. Phytosterols have beneficial effects on human health since they are able to reduce plasma cholesterol levels and have antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer activities. However, there are many difficulties in obtaining them, since the levels of these compounds produced from plant raw materials are low and their chemical synthesis is not economically profitable for commercial exploitation. A biotechnological alternative for their production is the use of plant cell and hairy root cultures. This review is focused on the biosynthesis of phytosterols and their function in both plants and humans as well as the different biotechnological strategies to increase phytosterol biosynthesis. Special attention is given to describing new methodologies based on the use of recombinant DNA technology to increase the levels of phytosterols.
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    Biotechnological approaches to enhance the biosynthesis of ginkgolides and bilobalide in Ginkgo biloba
    (Springer, 2013-02-09) Souliman Youssef, Sabry; Novo Uzal, Esther; Almagro Romero, Lorena; Belchí Navarro, Sarai; Pedreño García, María Ángeles; Sabater Jara, Ana Belén; Biología Vegetal
    Ginkgo biloba is one of the oldest living tree species and its extracts or powdered leaves are one of the best selling herbal preparations. The main bioactive constituents are flavonoids and the terpene trilactones, ginkgolides and bilobalide, which are responsible for their pharmacological activity. However, there are many difficulties for ginkgo leaves supply and the chemical synthesis is far from of being applicable for commercial-scale production. G. biloba cell cultures have arisen as a useful alternative source of pharmacologically active terpene trilactones. This review sheds light on the chemistry and biosynthesis of terpene trilactones with the aim of increasing the production of these high value compounds by biotechnological approaches. Different biotechnological strategies to improve ginkgolides and bilobalide production will be discussed, including screening and selection of in vitro ginkgo cultures, cell differentiation levels of these cultures, optimization of culture conditions, feeding and elicitation strategies. Special attention will be paid in developing new methodologies to enhance ginkgo cell biomass and provide high amounts of these bioactive terpene trilactones using large-scale cell cultures.
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    Recent trends in the biotechnological production of tocopherols using in vitro cultures
    (Springer, 2021-03-27) Almagro Romero, Lorena; Belchí Navarro, Sarai; Pedreño García, María Ángeles; Sabater Jara, Ana Belén; Biología Vegetal
    Tocopherols, a class of terpenoid compounds with vitamin-E activity, are produced by photosynthetic organisms, including cyanobacteria, algae, and plants. The chemical structure of tocopherols consists of a hydrophobic prenyl tail linked to a polar chromanol head. Depending on the position and number of methyl groups on the chromanol head, tocopherols are classed as a, b, c, and d isomers. Tocopherols play a key role in plant defense, and have bioactive properties beneficial for human health, being reported to prevent atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, eyesight degeneration, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. The high market demand for tocopherols calls for new strategies to improve their supply from sustainable sources, and a promising approach is to develop biotechnological factories with tocopherol-producing plant and microalgae in vitro cultures. This review provides a detailed overview of different strategies devised to enhance tocopherol production using such systems, with particular focus on elicitation and feeding, culture conditions, and the application of metabolic engineering.