Root Cultures for the Production of Biologically Active Plant Secondary Metabolites

植物根的次生代谢物（产物）是未充分利用和未充分开发的药物和农药来源。菊科（向日葵科）的根积累了广泛的有价值的天然产物，包括杀真菌、抗菌、抗病毒和杀线虫的聚乙炔。大多数这些化合物的合成和积累机制尚不清楚。pi最近从各种茄科和菊科物种中培养出快速生长的根，这些根在感染根际农杆菌后转化为“毛状根”。这些“毛状根”培养物的生长速度比正常根快，与未分化的细胞悬浮液相当；同时，它们继续产生根系特有的次生代谢物。pi表明，该实验系统非常适合发展为大规模生产过程。大型生物反应器将用于批量、半连续或连续培养的根无性系生长。这项拨款申请是我们希望在工程理事会的生物技术计划中看到的跨学科提案类型的一个很好的例子。该提案被跨学科小组评为优秀，主要研究人员被认为完全有资格进行拟议的研究。我建议按照订正预算为这项建议提供三年的经费。

Secondary metabolites (products) from plant roots are under- utilized and under-explored sources of pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals. Roots of the Asteraceae (Sunflower family) accumulate a wide range of valuable natural products including fungicidal, anti-bacterial, antiviral and nematicidal polyacetylenes. The mechanisms of synthesis and accumulation for most of these compounds are poorly understood. The PIs have recently developed fast-growing root cultures from various Solanceae and Asteraceae species which have been transformed into "hairy roots" following infection with the bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes. These "hairy root" cultures grow at rates faster than normal roots and comparable to those of undifferentiated cell suspensions; at the same time, they continue producing the secondary metabolites characteristic of roots. The PIs suggest that this experimental system is well suited for development into a large-scale production process. Large bioreactors will be built for the growth of root clones in batch, semi-continuous or continuous culture. This grant application is an excellent example of the type of crossdisciplinary proposal we wish to see in the Engineering Directorate's Biotechnology Program. It was rated excellent by the crossdisciplinary Panel reviewing this proposal and the Principal Investigators are considered well qualified to carry out the proposed research. I recommend funding of this proposal for three years in accordance with the revised budget.