Opium alkaloids biotechnology

Because of their economic interest, biotechnological production of these alkaloids would be of great interest particularly as it could contribute to reduce the illicit production of opium, the raw material for heroin manufacture. As a result, extensive studies have been made on the application of plant cell and tissue culture for the production of opium alkaloids. Furthermore bioconversion of certain semisynthetic products has been studied. A series of patents in this field has been filed (Table XXII). 

Patents Concerning Biotechnological Production of Opium Alkaloids... 

Alkaloid biosynthetic pathways are under strict regulation in plants. Until now, our limited knowledge of the fundamental mechanisms involved in the control of alkaloid metabolism has severely restricted our ability to harness the vast biotechnological potential of these important secondary pathways. For example, the use of plant cell cultures for the commercial production of pharmaceutical alkaloids has not become a reality despite decades of empirical research. The application of traditional and modem biochemical, molecular, and cellular techniques has revealed important clues about the reasons why C. rosens cultures accumulate tabersonine and catharanthine, but not vindoline or vinblastine, and why opium poppy cultures produce sanguinarine, but not codeine or morphine. The inability of dedifferentiated cells to accumulate certain metabolites was interpreted as evidence that the operation of many alkaloid pathways is tightly coupled to the development of specific tissues. Recent studies have shown that alkaloid pathways are regulated at multiple levels,... 

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