Question

Production of secondary metabolites require the use of -

• A. Cell suspension
• B. Solid agar medium
• C. Meristem
• D. Axillary bud

Hint:

Associate {liquid cultures (cell suspension)} with the production of biochemicals and large-scale applications in bioreactors. Associate {solid cultures (agar)} with plant regeneration, cloning (micropropagation), and callus maintenance.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Concept Overview:
The question concerns the optimal in vitro culture method for producing secondary metabolites. These are plant-derived organic compounds, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids, that aren't essential for growth or reproduction but possess ecological or medicinal value.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Large-scale commercial production of plant-based chemical compounds requires a scalable and controllable method.
Cell suspension culture: This involves growing individual cells or small cell clusters in liquid medium within a flask or bioreactor. This is ideal for secondary metabolite production due to uniform growth conditions, controlled nutrient levels and pH, and efficient extraction of compounds from the medium or cells.
Solid agar medium: Used for callus growth or organogenesis, this method is unsuitable for large-scale, uniform production and compound extraction.
Meristem culture: Applied to cultivate apical meristems for virus-free plant production, its primary purpose is clonal propagation, not metabolite production.
Axillary bud culture: Another micropropagation (cloning) technique for mass plant production, not chemical harvesting.
Step 3: Conclusion:
Cell suspension cultures in bioreactors represent the standard industrial approach for producing plant cell-derived secondary metabolites.