About this Research Topic
Plants synthesize a wide array of secondary metabolites, i.e., specialized compounds that are not strictly necessary for their growth and development, but important for other purposes, such as the interaction with the environment. Many plant secondary metabolites exert biological activities and are thus of interest for multiple industrial applications: noteworthy examples are paclitaxel (chemotherapy drug), morphine (analgesic), and cardenolides (treatment of cardiac arrhythmia).
The extraction of bioactives has caused the reckless sourcing of plants from the wild, with clear consequences for the environment. Plant cell culture technologies have thus emerged as valid alternatives for the production of bioactive compounds while preserving local habitats.
The cultivation of plant cell suspensions is a unique technology allowing the production of added-value molecules independently from environmental, geographical, and seasonal variations. This technology is based on the ability of differentiated plant cells to lose their committed fate and dedifferentiate to a mass of rapidly proliferating cells known as a callus. In liquid media, the callus disaggregates into single cells or clusters which multiply, thereby establishing cell suspension cultures. Alternatively, there are cellular meristematic cell cultures (CMCs) which are rather “stem cell”-like and offer new possibilities in terms of applications.
The growing interest of the food, cosmetic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries for plant cell cultures is motivated by the advantages they offer which can be summarized by the following adjectives: scalable, contaminant-free, sustainable, standardized, continuous, and controlled.
This Research Topic aims at exploring and discussing the current and future applications of both model and non-model plant cell cultures. We welcome original papers, perspective articles, opinion articles, and topical reviews on the following themes:
• the study of callogenesis,
• dedifferentiated cells’/CMC’s physiology and their cultivation in bioreactors, spanning laboratory- and pilot-scale volumes,
• the bioactivities of the obtained extracts,
• the emerging technologies in metabolic engineering,
•the optimization of bioprocesses for the production of proteins and bioactive secondary metabolites using plant cell suspension cultures.
Please note that purely descriptive studies (e.g., on callogenesis/establishment of plant cell cultures from a given species) which fail to provide an understanding of the plant cell line’s physiology or potential use will not be considered for review.
The extraction of bioactives has caused the reckless sourcing of plants from the wild, with clear consequences for the environment. Plant cell culture technologies have thus emerged as valid alternatives for the production of bioactive compounds while preserving local habitats.
The cultivation of plant cell suspensions is a unique technology allowing the production of added-value molecules independently from environmental, geographical, and seasonal variations. This technology is based on the ability of differentiated plant cells to lose their committed fate and dedifferentiate to a mass of rapidly proliferating cells known as a callus. In liquid media, the callus disaggregates into single cells or clusters which multiply, thereby establishing cell suspension cultures. Alternatively, there are cellular meristematic cell cultures (CMCs) which are rather “stem cell”-like and offer new possibilities in terms of applications.
The growing interest of the food, cosmetic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries for plant cell cultures is motivated by the advantages they offer which can be summarized by the following adjectives: scalable, contaminant-free, sustainable, standardized, continuous, and controlled.
This Research Topic aims at exploring and discussing the current and future applications of both model and non-model plant cell cultures. We welcome original papers, perspective articles, opinion articles, and topical reviews on the following themes:
• the study of callogenesis,
• dedifferentiated cells’/CMC’s physiology and their cultivation in bioreactors, spanning laboratory- and pilot-scale volumes,
• the bioactivities of the obtained extracts,
• the emerging technologies in metabolic engineering,
•the optimization of bioprocesses for the production of proteins and bioactive secondary metabolites using plant cell suspension cultures.
Please note that purely descriptive studies (e.g., on callogenesis/establishment of plant cell cultures from a given species) which fail to provide an understanding of the plant cell line’s physiology or potential use will not be considered for review.
Keywords: Plant cell suspension cultures, dedifferentiation, plant secondary metabolites, elicitation, bioprocess optimization, bioreactors, bioactive compounds, metabolic engineering, metabolomics, protein production
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
