Camptothecin (CPT), a monoterpene indole alkaloid, is one of the most promising anticancer drugs of the 21st century. It was shown to be effective in the complete remission of lungs, breast and uterine cervical cancers. Irinotecan and Topotecan, the two water soluble derivatives of CPT, have been approved by the FDA of the USA for treating colorectal and ovarian cancers. Although CPT has been reported to exist in several species, the highest concentration has been found in Nothapodytes nimmoniana, a small tree distributed in the Western Ghats of India. In spite of the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical industry, CPT is still extracted from plants. In the recent years, there has been an indiscriminate extraction of N. nimmoniana from many parts of India, especially from the Western Ghats because of the enormous demand for the chemical worldwide. Recently, some efforts have been initiated for the development of in vitro systems, conservation and production of CPT, identification of high-yielding individuals and molecular profiling. In this review article, we briefly outline the overall status of N. nimmoniana as a source of CPT and discuss the possibility of biotechnological intervention for higher production of CPT without destructive harvesting of natural population. Functional genomic approaches such as transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics will probably accelerate the identification of genes involved in CPT biosynthetic pathways. The combination of techniques like hairy root culture and metabolic engineering/physiological manipulation in N. nimmoniana seems to be the most attractive strategy for higher production of CPT.

Cancer is a growing public health problem, and it is estimated that worldwide new incidence is about six million cases per year. It is the second major cause of deaths after cardiovascular diseases. Plants have a long history of use in the treatment of cancer. A number of novel antitumor compounds, including taxol, camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives, maytansine, tripdiolide, homoharringtonine, vinblastine, vincristine, indicine-N-oxide, baccharin, podophyllatoxin derivatives, etc. are being extracted from plant sources.

Nothapodytes nimmoniana, Anticancer, Camptothecin, Chemical profiling, Endophytic association, Hairy root, in vitro multiplication, Metabolic engineering, MEP pathway, ORCA3, Strictosidine synthase