A BIOREACTOR FOR SCRENNING AND PRODUCTION OF HIGH VALUE SECONDARY PLANT METABOLITES

THE BIOCHEMICAL AND SYNTHETIC CAPACITY OF HIGHER PLANTS, AS SHOWN BY THEIR NATURAL CONTENT OF SUBSTANCES, HAS BEEN USED FOR CENTURIES IN SUPPLYING MATERIALS IMPORTANT IN PHARMACOLOGY AND IN FLAVORS AND FRAGRANCES. MANY OF THESE SECONDARY PRODUCTS ARE IN SHORT SUPPLY AND AN ENORMOUS EFFORT HAS TO BE EXTENDED TO GET THEM. ATTEMPTS TO USE CELL CULTURES OF HIGHER PLANTS AS A MEANS OF PRODUCING SECONDARY PRODUCTS IN METHODS ANALOGOUS TO THOSE UTILIZING MICROBES HAVE LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT IT IS UNECONOMICAL. IT IS NOW WELL RECOGNIZED THAT THE KEY TO TAPPING THE RESOURCE REPRESENTED BY PLANT CELLS IN CULTURE LIES IN THE ABILITY TO INDUCE THESE CELLS TO DIFFERENTIATE INTO THE KINDS OF CELLS OR TISSUES RESPONSIBLE FOR METABOLITE PRODUCTION IN THE INTACT PLANT. THE PROBLEM OF INDUCING SUCH DIFFERENTIATION IS COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT. IT REQUIRES A TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL ALLOW THE USE OF APPARATUS CAPABLE OF LARGE-SCALE SCREENING AND AUTOMATED TESTING OF PLANT CELLS AGAINST THE COMPLEX CHEMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGIMES NECESSARY TO INDUCE DIFFERENTIATION. THIS RESEARCH IS AIMED AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM FOR PRODUCTION OF HIGH-VALUE PLANT BIOCHEMICALS FROM CULTURED PLANT TISSUES WHICH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE ZERO-G PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT FOR MANIPULATION OF DELICATE TISSUES AND FOR YIELD-ENHANCING CULTURE SEPARATION PROCESSES.