In vitro propagation and camptothecin production in Nothapodytes nimmoniana

Nothapodytes nimmoniana is an endemic endangered tree and convenient source for large scale isolation of anticancer alkaloid camptothecin. Due to indiscriminate collection of its wood chips for camptothecin, population of the species is under heavy exploitation pressure in India. Plant tissue culture techniques offer alternative strategies for clonal propagation and camptothecin production to meet demand of the alkaloid along with conservation of the species. Several strategies are employed to enhance in vitro response through seed germination, culture medium optimisation for camptothecin production and clonal propagation. Cryopreservation of embryonic axes is an approach employed in short term preservation of the species. Scale up for the production of camptothecin from N. nimmoniana in bioreactor is a future possibility to meet pharmaceutical market demand and mitigate exploitation of natural population. In this article, we reviewed progress made so far on clonal propagation and camptothecin production in N. nimmoniana. We assessed the challenges and status of camptothecin production in N. nimmoniana by application of in vitro techniques.