6533b838fe1ef96bd12a4eec

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Chapter 2 Biosynthesis in Rauwolfia serpentina Modern Aspects of an Old Medicinal Plant

subject

description

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a research on Rauwolfia , which was achieved after the generation of a cell suspension with extraordinary growth characteristics and physiological behavior. The investigations demonstrated that a range of techniques is now available for the clarification of complete metabolic pathways, provided that the appropriate efficient biological system is available. The isolation and identification of each single enzyme have almost become routine, even if an extremely sensitive protein analytic technique is necessary when several kilograms of fresh plant cells are reduced to a few micrograms of homogenous protein. The successful identification of a total of 20 novel enzyme activities catalyzing particular steps in Rauwolfia alkaloid biosynthesis allows the designing of research on the regulation of biochemical sequences and the isolation and characterization of the genes involved. The future application of noninvasive techniques, such as in vivo NMR, is also expected to produce a closer insight into the cell chemistry of Rauwolfia . For all of these future aspects the cell suspension culture of R. serpentine described in the chapter is a valuable research tool.