ABSTRACT
A commission was established to stimulate research in this field. The first action was an inventory of research at the Dutch universities essential for biotechnology. Several groups already studied plant secondary metabolite production in cell cultures, others directed their research into this field. In 1982 about 40 researchers were active in this field. In 1986 this had increased to almost 100 researchers. The choice of the subjects was determined by the expertise within the participating groups and the potential areas of application. The lignans, derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway, have interest as antitumor compounds, and the Plant Molecular Biology group in Amsterdam had expertise in this pathway; the pharmacognosy department in Groningen was interested in antitumor compounds. Screening for high productivity can be done on several levels. High-producing plants, calli, or cell clones obtained from single cells or protoplasts have been used for screening of high- producing strains.
