Plant Cell Fermentation Process

Figure 15.1 Plant cell fermentation process for paclitaxel. Source Bristol-Myers Squibb.

FIGURE 5.3 One of the most potent chemotherapeutic agents used in cancer, Taxol is semisynthesized from 10-DAB. 10-DAB is isolated from the needles of the English yew or is produced by a plant cell fermentation process. 

The above definition of classical biotechnological processes can easily be adapted to the concept of molecular farming. With plant cell fermentation the analogy is ob-... 

A brilliant example for the industrial-scale application of plant cell fermentation is the new process for the production of the anticancer drug paclitaxel developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (see Figure 15.1). It starts with clusters of paclitaxel producing cells from the needles of the Chinese yew, T. chinensis, and was introduced in 2002. The API is isolated from the fermentation broth and is purified by chromatography and crystallization. The new process substitutes the previously used semisynthetic route. It started with lO-deacetylbaccatin(III), a compound that contains most of the structural complexity of paclitaxel and can be extracted from leaves and twigs of the European yew, T. baccata. The chemical process to convert 10-deacetylbaccatin(III) to paclitaxel is complex. It includes 11 synthetic steps and has a modest yield. 

Figure 7.7 Plant cell fermentation and extraction process.

Although the use of fermentation to produce ethanol is an ancient technology, more efficient immobilized-cell, continuous processes have been conceived, and Japan has estabhshed the first demonstration-scale plant. 

The stress acting on particles is of high importance for many technical processes. As well as dispersion processes in two-phase systems (liquid/liquid or gas/Hquid), where the disintegration of particles is desirable, there are also a number of processes that may be adversely affected by particle disintegration. These include precipitation, agglomeration, crystalHsation processes, and also bio conversion with immobilised enzymes and the fermentation of sensitive microorganisms and animal and plant cells. 

In the interdisciplinary field of biophysics and biotechnology, the bioeffects of electric field have received considerable interest for both fundamental studies on these interaction mechanisms and potential application. However, the effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) on secondary metabolism in plant cell cultures and fermentation processes have been unknown. Therefore, it would be very interesting to find out whether PEF could be used as a new tool for stimulating secondary metabolism in plant cell cultures for potential application to the value-added plant-specific secondary metabolite production. Furthermore, if the PEF permeabilization and elicitation are discovered in a cell culture system, the combination of... 

This review summarises the recent advances in engineering microbial and plant cells for flavour production. Examples from a number of compound classes will be presented to illustrate the use of transgenic organisms as sources for biocatalysts utilised in fermentation processes, as well as the application of metabolic engineering to produce a specific desired compound. 

When lactose is used as a substrate for fermentation processes, a wide variety of end products are produced. Some processes are in commercial operation, for example, the Carbery, Ireland, process for the production of alcohol from whey permeate. This plant produces about 22,000 liters of alcohol from 600,000 liters of whey permeate per day. The conversion of lactose to alcohol is about 86%. Single-cell protein has been produced from whey by a Wisconsin plant for many years this plant also produces potable alcohol. 

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