ENGINEERING AND BIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR IMMOBILIZED PLANT CELL SYSTEMS

PLANT CELL CULTURES ARE A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF IMPORTANT SECONDARY METABOLITES SUCH AS MEDICINALS. CURRENTLY, LOW PRODUCTIVITIES HAVE IMPEDED COMMERCIALIZATION OF A BROADER RANGE OF TARGET COMPOUNDS. CELL IMMOBILIZATION COUPLED WITH CONTINUOUS REMOVAL OF SECRETED PRODUCTS HAS BEEN ADVOCATED AS A METHOD OF ENHANCING VOLUMETRIC PRODUCTIVITIES. RECENT ADVANCES SUGGEST THAT THE PREREQUISITE OF PRODUCT SECRETION CAN BE MET IN A BROAD RANGE OF PLANT SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, THE PROMISE OF IMMOBILIZATION AS A METHOD TO INCREASE VOLUMETRIC PRODUCTIVITY HAS REMAINED UNFULFILLED, EVEN IN CASES WHERE THE PREREQUISITES HAVE BEEN MET. FAILURES MAY BE TRACED TO DESIGN OF THE BIOCATALYST PARTICLE. WE PROPOSE A COMBINED ENGINEERING AND BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TOSEPARATE AND INDEPENDENTLY STUDY THE EFFECTS OF IMMOBILIZATION ON CELL PERFORMANCE. THIS INFORMATION WILL ALLOW COMPREHENSIVE AND RATIONAL BIOCATALYST PARTICLE DESIGN WITH RESPECT TO: 1) CHOICE OF IMMOBILIZING MATRIX, 2) PARTICLE PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS AND 3) IMPOSED LEVEL OF CELLULAR ASSOCIATION. PHASE II INVOLVES INTEGRATION OF OTHER PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT STRATEGIES WITH THE IMMOBILIZED CELL PROCESS. REACTOR DESIGN AND SCALE-UP STUDIES WILL PRECEDE PILOT SCALE OPERATION. OUR TARGET IS TAXOL, A RARE AND VALUABLE ANT-CANCER DRUG OF VITAL IMPORTANCE.