Biotechnology for the production of plant natural products

Abstract This review deals with the application of recombinant DNA technology to investigate and tailor plant secondary metabolism as a tool for the control of the biosynthesis and accumulation of plant natural products. Firstly, it presents the different plant transformation technologies, followed by the description of the various strategies implemented for the genetic modification of metabolic pathways. Furthermore, a review of the modification of three metabolic pathways, i. e. tropane alkaloid, fatty acid and terpenoid biosynthetic routes has also been attempted. Finally, under future perspectives several views on how the technology might progress are outlined, as well as presenting the potential different approaches which might be devised in the future for the genetic engineering of metabolic networks.