Tansley Review No. 90. Manipulating Secondary Metabolism in Cultured Plant Cells

This review attempts to present an overall strategy for the production of useful secondary metabolites by cultured plant cells. After consideration of the nature and utility of secondary metabolites and the possible role of these substances to the plant, the review focuses attention on the properties of the plant cells in culture and how the cell populations and their physical and chemical environment can be manipulated to encourage the synthesis and accumulation of secondary products. Finally, consideration is given to the involvement of genetic engineering in the production of cells to perform particular metabolic tasks and how these techniques might contribute to the development of a new strategy to enable the production of useful secondary metabolites on a commercial scale.