Biotization of Medicinal Plant Cultures by Endophytes: A Promising Approach to Enrich Therapeutics

 Overexploitation, climate change, and pressure from invasive species are threatening the diversity of medicinal plants; a few of them are extinct or in the endangered category. The mass multiplication of some medicinal plants outside their natural habitat affected the biochemical diversity of the plants, thereby decreasing their medicinal value. Hence, micropropagation of high-yielding, elite genotypes was preferred over time to conserve the species and meet the pharmaceutical needs. Although micropropagation was promising, the diversity and quantity of bioactive compounds of the in vitro plants were not comparable to those of their counterparts in nature. The in vitro plants, challenged with a plethora of biotic and abiotic stresses, were poorly acclimatized, with abject survival. During the last few decades, the role of endophytes with their mechanisms in enhancing growth, development, and stress tolerance has been proven among field-grown plants. In consequence, the role of endophytes in micropropagation is gaining prominence to address the vulnerability, acclimatization, and enhanced bioactive compounds of tissue culture plants. This approach of the use of competent endophytes is known as biotization. This chapter brings together the current status, possibilities, and limitations of the most promising biotization of medicinal plants. Biotization of endophytes in micropropagation is a potential tool for the production of medicinal plants with enriched bioactive compounds with improved therapeutic effects.

Keywords: Acclimatization, Bioreactors, Biotization, Cell and tissue culture, Endophytes, Medicinal plants, Secondary metabolites, Stress tolerance.