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Recent Strategies to Engineer Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Medicinal Plants

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Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Plants are known to synthesize a plethora of secondary metabolites viz., terpenoids, terpenes, flavonoids and alkaloids. Of these, alkaloids belong to a major class of phytoconstituents, which are responsible for many properties of therapeutic interest such as analgesic, antimicrobial, antimalarial, antipyretic, antihypertensive, cardioprotective, anticancer and antiarrhythmic. Consequently, plants possess several biosynthetic pathways which are critical for alkaloid biosynthesis. The recent involvement of commercial interest has triggered the exploration of techniques for altering the production of alkaloids. Moreover, the amount of natural production of alkaloids is low and vulnerable due to the dependency on climatic conditions. Considering the above facts, different techniques such as transcription factors plant tissue culture, miRNA-mediated manipulation of these secondary metabolites, gene editing by CRISPR/Cas9, and nanoparticles (NPs)-based enhancement are being extensively used to stabilize and enhance alkaloid production for the large-scale use at the industrial level. Additionally, a detailed understanding of alkaloid biosynthetic pathway genes, transcription factors and their mode of action is essential for the improved production of important alkaloids. This chapter is focussed on reviewing a set of biotechnological tools that are the potential candidates for improved biosynthesis of different alkaloids, which can further revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Central University of Jammu, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir (UT), India

    Sakshi Bhushan

  2. School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir (UT), India

    Deepak Sharma,  Rakshant, Sanjana Kaul & Manoj K. Dhar

  3. Department of Plant Science, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Shahpur Parisar, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Munish Sharma

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  1. Sakshi Bhushan
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  2. Deepak Sharma
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  4. Sanjana Kaul
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  5. Manoj K. Dhar
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  1. Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita, Ethiopia

    Azamal Husen

  2. Department of Botany, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

    Muhammad Iqbal

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Bhushan, S., Sharma, D., Rakshant, Kaul, S., Dhar, M.K., Sharma, M. (2023). Recent Strategies to Engineer Alkaloid Biosynthesis in Medicinal Plants. In: Husen, A., Iqbal, M. (eds) Medicinal Plants. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5611-9_15

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