70-80% of people worldwide rely chiefly on traditional, largely herbal, medicines. The global demand for herbal medicine is not only large but growing. Various technologies- adopted for enhancing bioactive molecules in medicinal plants. Biotechnological tools are important for the multiplication and genetic enhancement of medicinal plants. In vitro regeneration and genetic transformation are the Techniques adopted.

1. INTRODUCTION TO PLANT
BIOTECHNOLOGY
By- Durgashree M D
Medicinal Plant Biotechnology
Department of Pharmacognosy
KLE College of Pharmacy, Bengaluru.
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2. CONTENT
 Introduction
 Historical Perspective
 Prospects for Development
 Application in Pharmacy and Allied fields
 Genetic and Molecular Biology
 Study of DNA, RNA, Protein Replication.
 Genetic code
 Regulation in Gene Expression.
 Structure and Complicity of Genome
 Cell Signaling
 DNA RecombinantTechnology.
2

3. INTRODUCTION
 Biotechnology is “ the controlled use of biological agents, such as micro-
organisms or cellular components, for beneficial use”1.
 “Plant Biotechnology describes a precise process in which scientific
techniques are used to develop useful and beneficial plants”2.
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4. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
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5. PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
 70-80% of people worldwide rely chiefly on traditional,
largely herbal, medicines.
 The global demand for herbal medicine is not only
large but growing.
 Various technologies- adopted for enhancing bioactive
molecules in medicinal plants.
 Biotechnological tools are important for the
multiplication and genetic enhancement of medicinal
plants.
 In vitro regeneration and genetic transformation are
theTechniques adopted.
5

6. PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
 Molecular biology, enzymology, and fermentation technology of plant cell
cultures -these systems may become a viable source – of important
secondary metabolites.
 DNA manipulation is resulting in relatively large amounts of desired
compounds produced by plants infected with an engineered virus.
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8. PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
 Combinatorial biosynthetic strategies are expected to yield interesting
alternatives in the near future.
 Combinatorial biosynthesis has been utilized for important classes of
natural products, including alkaloids, terpenoids, and flavonoids.
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9. PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
 Several genes from differentTaxus
species are responsible for steps in
biosynthesis.
 It is building a basis for today’s
combinatorial biosynthesis
 Today, all the genes have been cloned
into E. coli and activity screening
confirmed the function of isolated
enzymes.
 The first intermediate, taxadiene can
now be produced in E. coli3.
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10. APPLICATION IN PHARMACY AND ALLIED FIELD
 Pharmaceutical biotechnology is a relatively new and growing field in which the
principles of biotechnology are applied to the development of drugs.
 A majority of therapeutic drugs in the current market are bio formulations, such
as antibodies, nucleic acid products, and vaccines4.
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11. APPLICATION IN PHARMACY AND ALLIED FIELDS
1. Production of Antibodies
 Plants now have potential as
a virtually unlimited source
of mAbs, referred to by
some as ‘plantibodies’.
 Tobacco plants have been
used extensively for
antibody expression
systems.
 other plants have been used
including potatoes,
soybeans, alfalfa, rice, and
corn. 11

12. APPLICATION IN PHARMACY AND ALLIED FIELDS
2. Production ofVaccines
 The plant species to be used for
the production and delivery of
an oral vaccine.
 Corn, is a good candidate for
vaccine production forAnimals.
 In humans, particularly infants,
the plant of choice is the
banana.
 Cereals and other edible plants
are more advantageous than
tobacco for vaccine production.
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13. APPLICATION IN PHARMACY AND ALLIED FIELD
3. OtherTherapeutic Agents: A wide variety of other therapeutic agents have
been derived5.
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14. 14

15. GENETIC AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY APPLIEDTO
PHARMACOGNOSY
DNA, connects molecular biology and pharmacognosy together.
Molecular pharmacognosy, a term that came into use in 1995.
Molecular pharmacognosy is focused on resolving a wide range of
challenging problems.
It is done by using various methods andTechnology of Molecular
Biology.
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16. 16

17. GENETIC AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY APPLIEDTO
PHARMACOGNOSY
Application of
molecular
pharmacognosy
Cultivar identification
Resource protection
Formation mechanism of medicinal
materials with good quality
Production of active compounds
17

18. GENETIC AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY APPLIEDTO
PHARMACOGNOSY
1. Cultivar Identification:
 PCR related methods
 DNA Barcoding, etc.
 DNA barcoding technology has
enormous potential for cultivar
identification.
 It was reported that APAPD and
MARMS methods identified
five kinds of Panax Ginseng-
related species.
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19. GENETIC AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY APPLIEDTO
PHARMACOGNOSY
2. Resource Protection
 The information on genetic diversity
could guide the protection and
development of medicinal resources,
especially the rare and endangered
ones.
 Cistanche deserticola andC. tubulosa,
two endangered medical plants,
provided evidence for the protection
of wild resources
Cistanche deserticola Cistanche tubulosa
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20. GENETIC AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY APPLIEDTO
PHARMACOGNOSY
3. Formation mechanism of medicinal materials with good quality
 The quality of medicinal materials is highly affected by their genetic basis
and ecological environment.
 Helpful for Molecular breeding and cultivation of medicinal materials
20

21. GENETIC AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY APPLIEDTO
PHARMACOGNOSY
4. Production of active compounds
 Transgenic technology has been
successfully used to obtain
transgenic medicinal plants
 Which have either disease, insect,
drought, and salinity resistance, or
have higher production of active
compounds.
 The production of tanshinone was
obtained from hairy roots and
suspension cells of Salvia
miltiorrhiza6.
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22. STUDY OF DNA AND RNA
 DNA is a major constituent of the Nucleus.
 Discovered by Swiss Scientist Frederick Miescher
in 1869.
 In the late 19th century RNA was discovered.
 DNA is located in the nucleus.
 RNA is found in the cytoplasm and nucleus.
 DNA and RNA are constructed from many
smaller building blocks.
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23. STUDY OF DNA AND RNA
 Nucleotide- building blocks of nucleic acid.
 It contains the Phosphate group, a sugar
moiety, and either purines or pyrimidines.
 Purines- Adenine, and Guanine
 Pyrimidines- Cytosine,Thymine, and Uracil7.
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25. STUDY OF DNA AND RNA
25

26. STUDY OF DNA AND RNA
26

27. STUDY OF DNA AND RNA
27

28. STUDY OF PROTEIN REPLICATION
 https://youtu.be/TNKWgcFPHqw( DNA Replication)9
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29. STUDY OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
 https://youtu.be/gG7uCskUOrA (Protein Synthesis)8
29

30. GENETIC CODE
 Genetic code, the
sequence of nucleotides
in deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) and ribonucleic
acid (RNA) that
determines the amino
acid sequence of
proteins10.
 Genetic code is a
dictionary consisting of
“genetic words” called
CODONS.
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31. GENETIC CODE
 DNA is the blueprint, information in DNA results in the manufacturing of
concrete molecules.
 Genome of any species is a book with genetic code as language, common
to the book of all lifeforms.
 Language of DNA (A,T,C &G) and RNA (A,U,C,& G).
 Each Genetic word symbolize amino acids.
 Eg: AAG- Phenylalanine2.
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32. GENETIC CODON
 There are 64 codons (61 codon codes to Amino acid and 3 codons do not code to
Amino acid).
 Types of Codon- 1) Sense codon
2) Signal codon (Initiating andTerminating Codon)
 Sense codon- codon that codes forAmino acids (eg: ACC, AUC, CGU, etc.)
 Signal codon- those codons that code for signals during Protein synthesis.
 Initiating Codon- AUG, it codes for the first Amino acid in all Proteins.
 Terminating Codon- UAA, UAG, UGA- also called as a Nonsense codon, stop
codon11.
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33. REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION
 Gene is a section of DNA with the information to construct a protein.
 Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in
the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce such
as protein/noncoding RNA.
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34. REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION
 Steps involved in gene expression areTranscription andTranslation.
 Together it is called Gene expression.
 Regulation of gene expression- a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells
to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products.
 It is important that the expression of a gene is controlled to ensure it is correctly
expressed.
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35. REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION
In eukaryotes, expression can be controlled on many levels.
1. Chromatin conformation
2. Gene transcription
3. Nuclear RNA modification
4. Cytoplasmic RNA turnover
5. Translation
6. Post translation modification
7. Protein localization
8. Protein turnover18.
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36. STRUCTURE AND COMPLICITY OF GENOME
 An organism's complete set of nuclear DNA is called its genome.
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37. STRUCTURE AND COMPLICITY OF GENOME
37

38. CELL SIGNALING
 Cell signaling is the fundamental process by
which specific information is transferred
from the cell surface to the cytosol and
ultimately to the nucleus, leading to changes
in gene expression.
 Types of cell signaling
Autocrine signaling
Paracrine signaling
Endocrine signaling
Direct signaling
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39. CELL SIGNALING
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40. DNA RECOMBINANTTECHNOLOGY
 Recombinant DNA technology involves using enzymes and various
laboratory techniques to manipulate and isolate DNA segments of interest.
 This method can be used to combine DNA from different species or to
create genes with new functions.
 The resulting copies are often referred to as recombinant DNA.
https://youtu.be/8rXizmLjegI
(Mechanism of recombination) 40

41. DNA RECOMBINANTTECHNOLOGY
Steps of Recombinant DNATechnology
1. Isolation of the Genetic Material (DNA)
2. Cutting of DNA at Specific Locations
3. Isolation of Desired DNA Fragment
4. Amplification of Gene of Interest using PCR (https://youtu.be/2KoLnIwoZKU)16
5. Ligation of DNA Fragment into aVector
6. Insertion of Recombinant DNA into the Host Cell/Organisms
7. Obtaining or Culturing the Foreign Gene Product17.
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42. DNA RECOMBINANTTECHNOLOGY
Application of Recombinant DNATechnology
 Recombinant DNA technology enables scientists to develop vaccines by
cloning the gene used for protective antigen protein.
 Viral vaccines, through this technology, for example, Herpes, Influenza,
Hepatitis, and Foot and Mouth Disease
 In Industry- production of chemical compounds of commercial importance,
improvement of existing fermentation processes, and production of
proteins from wastes.
 In agriculture- genetically-modified organisms that produce genetically-
modified crops. (The first GM food was the Flavr Savr tomato, produced in
1994, which had a longer shelf life and an enhanced flavor )
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43. REFERENCES
1. Elements of Biotechnology- P.K Guptha
2. Medicinal Plant Biotechnology- Dr. Md. Rageeb Md. Usman.
3. Recent advances in medicinal plant biotechnology.
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254021048_Recent_advaces_in_medicinal_plant_biotechnology)
4. Pharmaceutical Biotechnology- concept and Application.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525971/#:~:text=Pharmaceutical%20biotechnology%20is%20a%20relati
vely,nucleic%20acid%20products%20and%20vaccines.)
5. Biopharmaceuticals derived from genetically modified plants. (https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article/97/11/705/1597475)
6. Molecular Pharmacognosy:A new Borderline Discipline.
(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1934578X0900401131)
7. Recombinant DNA- James D.Watson. (Pg: 14-15,)
8. From DNA to Protein (https://youtu.be/gG7uCskUOrA)
9. DNA Replication 3D. (https://youtu.be/TNKWgcFPHqw)
10. Genetic Code. (https://www.britannica.com/science/genetic-code)
43

44. REFERENCES
11. Genetic code Ppt- DesaiVruddhi
12. How do genes direct the production of protein- Medline Plus.
13. Cell signaling- an Overview
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/cell-signaling)
14. Recombinant DNATechnology (https://www.genome.gov/genetics-
glossary/Recombinant-DNA-Technology)
15. Mechanisms of recombination. (https://youtu.be/8rXizmLjegI)
16. Polymerase chain reaction. (https://youtu.be/2KoLnIwoZKU)
17. 7 main stages of recombinant DNA
Technology.(https://www.biologydiscussion.com/dna/recombinant-dna-technology/7-
main-stages-of-recombinant-dna-technology/56320)
18. Plant Biotechnology- Scoot, Slater, and Fowler. 44

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