ABSTRACT
Abstract ..................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 2 1.2 Evolution of Secondary Metabolites in Plants ................................. 5 1.3 Basis of Gene Evolution .................................................................. 6 1.4 Convergent Versus Divergent Evolution .......................................... 7 1.5 In Vitro Production of Secondary Metabolites ................................. 8 1.6 Need for In Vitro Culture ................................................................. 9 1.7 Limitation of In Vitro Production Using Plant Cell Culture .......... 12 1.8 Metabolic Engineering ................................................................... 12 1.9 Significance of In Vitro Production of Secondary Metabolites ..... 16 1.10 Agriculturally Important Secondary Metabolites and Their
Future Scope .................................................................................. 17 Keywords ................................................................................................ 24 References ............................................................................................... 24
ABSTRACT
Secondary metabolites showed a range of biological activity such as antioxidant, antiproliferative, immunosuppressant, anti-infective, cholesterol lowering and growth promoting also termed as bioactive molecules. Higher organisms in the process of evolution have faced a diverse kind of biotic and abiotic stresses. Various genetic consequences have resulted in the evolution of specific kinds of secondary metabolites in specific organisms. Currently, the majority of pharmaceutically essential bioactive molecules are isolated from wild or cultivated plants as their chemical synthesis is uneconomical. Many of these medicinally important chemicals in limited quantity are produced in the natural population, making the drugs expensive to harvest. Advancement of in vitro production system for some of the important drugs has shown the challenges for profitable production of such chemicals.
