摘要:
My thesis research focused on initiating a plant molecular biology division for the Stephen F. Austin Biotechnology program and more specifically establishing a system to study secondary metabolite production in cell cultures of Camptotheca acuminata. The protocols that developed include media formulations, callus induction, maintenance of suspension cultures, incubation conditions, tissue extraction, metabolite assays, acquisition of plant vectors, and plant cell transformation techniques. This foundation provides the building blocks for future students to investigate plant cell transformations that induce secondary metabolite synthesis in plant tissue culture. The primary reasons for transforming plant cells are to produce transgenic plants with enhanced agricultural, horticultural, medicinal, or ornamental value; or to gain an understanding of a particular biological process or biochemical pathway (Glick et al, 1993). Camptotheca acuminata was used as the host plant for this study because it produces the secondary metabolite, camptothecin, a cytotoxic alkaloid exhibiting anti-neoplastic activity due to camptothecin-specific interaction with eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I.