Advances in Transformed Root Cultures for Root Biofactory and Phytoremediation Research

Abstract

At the beginning of last century hairy root syndrome, an infection disease which affects mainly dicotyledonous plants, caused significant losses in vineyards and fruit nurseries. An about three decades ago Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformations became a valuable platform to study the biosynthesis of plant-derived metabolites. Today genetically transformed root cultures have become increasingly attractive and cost-effective alternative to classical approaches for the mass production of value-added metabolites and therapeutic molecules. Hairy Roots have also shown an enormous potential in phytoremediation processing, which opened up a new window for their utilization to decontaminate polluted environments. This chapter overviews recent development in Hairy Root culture field, focusing on their induction, bioprocessing aspects and phytoremediation approaches, and outline the existing perspectives for commercialization oh Hairy Roots-based processes.