Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Bioactives

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 23886

Special Issue Editors

MED— Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Interests: plant bioactive compounds; bioactivity; essential oils; phenolic compounds; secondary metabolites; plant tissue culture; extraction; green solvents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Faculdade de Ciências e Tenologia, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Interests: plant secondary metabolites; the influence of stress factors on plant secondary metabolites; plant tissue culture; production of biocompounds in in vitro cultures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants will publish a Special Issue dedicated to the production of bioactive compounds by using biotechnological approaches. Bioactive compounds found in natural sources have numerous applications in various domains. Human life is, to a great extent, dependent on natural products for food, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, clothes, fuel, building materials, and many other uses. These compounds are particularly useful in medicine, since they have the capacity to modulate metabolic processes of the human body and promote health.

Due to limited natural resources and increasing consumer demand for natural bioactive compounds, bioprocesses are increasingly needed to meet industry and consumers requirements. Biotechnology-based tools for bioactives production include mainly plant tissue culture, microorganisms fermentation, and molecular biopharming. These alternatives provide the continuous, sustainable, economical, and viable production of many valuable bioactive substances with no geographic or seasonal constraints, and are especially useful for the production of bioactives found in endangered species.

Submissions of research and review papers as well as short communications on a wide range of topics related to the producion of bioactive compounds using biotecnological approaches are welcome.

Dr. Sandra Gonçalves
Prof. Dr. Anabela Romano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Alkaloids
  • Bioactive compounds
  • Bioactivity
  • Cell culture
  • Metabolomics
  • Molecular biopharming
  • Natural products
  • Plant tissue culture
  • Polyphenols
  • Polysaccharides
  • Secondary metabolites
  • Sustainable exploitation of bioresources

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 994 KiB  
Article
Establishment of a Cell Suspension Culture of Eysenhardtia platycarpa: Phytochemical Screening of Extracts and Evaluation of Antifungal Activity
by Antonio Bernabé-Antonio, Alejandro Sánchez-Sánchez, Antonio Romero-Estrada, Juan Carlos Meza-Contreras, José Antonio Silva-Guzmán, Francisco Javier Fuentes-Talavera, Israel Hurtado-Díaz, Laura Alvarez and Francisco Cruz-Sosa
Plants 2021, 10(2), 414; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10020414 - 23 Feb 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2887
Abstract
Eysenhardtia platycarpa (Fabaceae) is a medicinal plant used in Mexico. Biotechnological studies of its use are lacking. The objective of this work was to establish a cell suspension culture (CSC) of E. platycarpa, determine the phytochemical constituents by spectrophotometric and [...] Read more.
Eysenhardtia platycarpa (Fabaceae) is a medicinal plant used in Mexico. Biotechnological studies of its use are lacking. The objective of this work was to establish a cell suspension culture (CSC) of E. platycarpa, determine the phytochemical constituents by spectrophotometric and gas chromatography‒mass spectrometry (GC‒MS) methods, evaluate its antifungal activity, and compare them with the intact plant. Friable callus and CSC were established with 2 mg/L 1-naphthaleneacetic acid plus 0.1 mg/L kinetin. The highest total phenolics of CSC was 15.6 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight and the total flavonoids content ranged from 56.2 to 104.1 µg quercetin equivalents (QE)/g dry weight. The GC‒MS analysis showed that the dichloromethane extracts of CSC, sapwood, and heartwood have a high amount of hexadecanoic acid (22.3–35.3%) and steroids (13.5–14.7%). Heartwood and sapwood defatted hexane extracts have the highest amount of stigmasterol (~23.4%) and β-sitosterol (~43%), and leaf extracts presented β-amyrin (16.3%). Methanolic leaf extracts showed mostly sugars and some polyols, mainly D-pinitol (74.3%). Compared with the intact plant, dichloromethane and fatty hexane extracts of CSC exhibited percentages of inhibition higher for Sclerotium cepivorum: 71.5% and 62.0%, respectively. The maximum inhibition for Rhizoctonia solani was with fatty hexane extracts of the sapwood (51.4%). Our study suggests that CSC extracts could be used as a possible complementary alternative to synthetic fungicides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Bioactives)
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16 pages, 24901 KiB  
Article
Photoprotective Activity of Buddleja cordata Cell Culture Methanolic Extract on UVB-irradiated 3T3-Swiss Albino Fibroblasts
by Milton Abraham Gómez-Hernández, Miriam V. Flores-Merino, Jesús Enrique Sánchez-Flores, Cristina Burrola-Aguilar, Carmen Zepeda-Gómez, Aurelio Nieto-Trujillo and María Elena Estrada-Zúñiga
Plants 2021, 10(2), 266; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10020266 - 30 Jan 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2744
Abstract
The research on compounds exhibiting photoprotection against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a matter of increasing interest. The methanolic extract of a cell culture of Buddleja cordata has potential photoprotective effects as these cells produce phenolic secondary metabolites (SMs). These metabolites are attributed with [...] Read more.
The research on compounds exhibiting photoprotection against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a matter of increasing interest. The methanolic extract of a cell culture of Buddleja cordata has potential photoprotective effects as these cells produce phenolic secondary metabolites (SMs). These metabolites are attributed with biological activities capable of counteracting the harmful effects caused by UVR on skin. In the present work, the methanolic extract (310–2500 µg/mL) of B. cordata cell culture showed a photoprotective effect on UVB-irradiated 3T3-Swiss albino fibroblasts with a significant increase in cell viability. The greatest photoprotective effect (75%) of the extract was observed at 2500 µg/mL, which was statistically comparable with that of 250 µg/mL verbascoside, used as positive control. In addition, concentrations of the extract higher than 2500 µg/mL resulted in decreased cell viability (≤83%) after 24 h of exposure. Phytochemical analysis of the extract allowed us to determine that it was characterized by high concentrations of total phenol and total phenolic acid contents (138 ± 4.7 mg gallic acid equivalents and 44.01 ± 1.33 mg verbascoside equivalents per gram of extract, respectively) as well as absorption of UV light (first and second bands peaking at 294 and 330 nm, respectively). Some phenylethanoid glycosides were identified from the extract. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Bioactives)
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19 pages, 3533 KiB  
Article
Establishment of a Cell Suspension Culture of Ageratina pichinchensis (Kunth) for the Improved Production of Anti-Inflammatory Compounds
by Mariana Sánchez-Ramos, Laura Alvarez, Antonio Romero-Estrada, Antonio Bernabé-Antonio, Silvia Marquina-Bahena and Francisco Cruz-Sosa
Plants 2020, 9(10), 1398; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants9101398 - 21 Oct 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2987
Abstract
Ageratina pichinchensis (Kunth) is a plant used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat multiple ailments. However, there have not been biotechnological studies on producing compounds in in vitro cultures. The aim of this study was to establish a cell suspension culture of A. [...] Read more.
Ageratina pichinchensis (Kunth) is a plant used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat multiple ailments. However, there have not been biotechnological studies on producing compounds in in vitro cultures. The aim of this study was to establish a cell suspension culture of A. pichinchensis, quantify the anti-inflammatory constituents 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (2) and 3-epilupeol (3), evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of its extracts, and perform a phytochemical analysis. Cell suspension cultures were established in a MS culture medium of 30-g L−1 sucrose, 1.0-mg L−1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid, and 0.1-mg L−1 6-furfurylaminopurine. The ethyl acetate extract of the cell culture analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) revealed that the maximum production of anti-inflammatory compounds 2 and 3 occurs on days eight and 16, respectively, improving the time and previously reported yields in callus cultures. The anti-inflammatory activity of these extracts exhibited a significant inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production. Furthermore, a phytochemical study of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH) extracts from day 20 led to the identification of 17 known compounds. The structures of the compounds were assigned by an analysis of 1D and 2D NMR data and the remainder by GC–MS. This is the first report of the production of (-)-Artemesinol, (-)-Artemesinol glucoside, encecalin, and 3,5-diprenyl-acetophenone by a cell suspension culture of A. pichinchensis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Bioactives)
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Review

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12 pages, 2106 KiB  
Review
Biosynthesis and Industrial Production of Androsteroids
by Rituraj Batth, Clément Nicolle, Ilenuta Simina Cuciurean and Henrik Toft Simonsen
Plants 2020, 9(9), 1144; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants9091144 - 03 Sep 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6525
Abstract
Steroids are a group of organic compounds that include sex hormones, adrenal cortical hormones, sterols, and phytosterols. In mammals, steroid biosynthesis starts from cholesterol via multiple steps to the final steroid and occurs in the gonads, adrenal glands, and placenta. This highly regulated [...] Read more.
Steroids are a group of organic compounds that include sex hormones, adrenal cortical hormones, sterols, and phytosterols. In mammals, steroid biosynthesis starts from cholesterol via multiple steps to the final steroid and occurs in the gonads, adrenal glands, and placenta. This highly regulated pathway involves several cytochrome P450, as well as different dehydrogenases and reductases. Steroids in mammals have also been associated with drug production. Steroid pharmaceuticals such as testosterone and progesterone represent the second largest category of marketed medical products. There heterologous production through microbial transformation of phytosterols has gained interest in the last couple of decades. Phytosterols being the plants sterols serve as inexpensive substrates for the production of steroid derivatives. Various genes and biochemical pathways involved in phytosterol degradation have been identified in many Rhodococcus and Mycobacterium species. Apart from an early investigation in mammals, presence of steroids such as androsteroids and progesterone has also been demonstrated in plants. Their main role is linked with growth, development, and reproduction. Even though plants share some chemical features with mammals, the biosynthesis is different, with the first C22 hydroxylation as an example. This is performed by CYP11A1 in mammals and CYP90B1 in plants. Moreover, the entire plant steroid biosynthesis is not fully elucidated. Knowing this pathway could provide new processes for the industrial biotechnological production of steroid hormones in plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Bioactives)
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21 pages, 648 KiB  
Review
Transgenesis as a Tool for the Efficient Production of Selected Secondary Metabolites from Plant in Vitro Cultures
by Tomasz Kowalczyk, Joanna Wieczfinska, Ewa Skała, Tomasz Śliwiński and Przemysław Sitarek
Plants 2020, 9(2), 132; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants9020132 - 21 Jan 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 7624
Abstract
The plant kingdom abounds in countless species with potential medical uses. Many of them contain valuable secondary metabolites belonging to different classes and demonstrating anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial or antidiabetic properties. Many of these metabolites, e.g., paclitaxel, vinblastine, betulinic acid, chlorogenic acid or [...] Read more.
The plant kingdom abounds in countless species with potential medical uses. Many of them contain valuable secondary metabolites belonging to different classes and demonstrating anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial or antidiabetic properties. Many of these metabolites, e.g., paclitaxel, vinblastine, betulinic acid, chlorogenic acid or ferrulic acid, have potential applications in medicine. Additionally, these compounds have many therapeutic and health-promoting properties. The growing demand for these plant secondary metabolites forces the use of new green biotechnology tools to create new, more productive in vitro transgenic plant cultures. These procedures have yielded many promising results, and transgenic cultures have been found to be safe, efficient and cost-effective sources of valuable secondary metabolites for medicine and industry. This review focuses on the use of various in vitro plant culture systems for the production of secondary metabolites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnological Approaches for the Production of Bioactives)
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