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Plant Secondary Metabolism

31 Dec 1998-
Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Fatty acids. Acetylenic compounds in plants. Plant waxes. Polyketides. Benzoquinones. Naphthoquinones, and anthraquinones. Shikimic acid pathway. Phenylpropanoids. Coumarins. 2-pyrones, stilbenes, dihydrophenanthrenes, and xanthones. Flavonoids. Tannins. Non-protein amino acids. Peptides. Carbohydrates. Cyanogenic glycosides, and Cyanolipids. Glucosinolates. Introduction to terpenes. Monoterpenes. Iridoid monoterpenes. Sesquiterpenes. Diterpenes and sesterterpences. Triterpenes and steroids. Saponins and cardenolides. Limonoids, Quassinoids and related compounds. Tetraterpenes or cartenoids. Limonoids, quassinoids, and related compounds. Simple aimines, simple aromatic and pyridine alkaloids. Pyrrolidine, tropane, piperidine, and polyeketide alkaloids. Pyrrolizidine, quinolizidine and indolizidine alkaloids. Alkaloids derived from anthranilic acid. Isoquinoline and benzylisoquineoline alkaloids. Alkaloids derived from both tyrosine and phenylalanine. Indole alkaloids. Ergot and other indole alkaloids. Alkaloids of terpenoid orgin. Miscellaneous types of alkaloids.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This brief review summarizes the influence of different abiotic factors include salt, drought, light, heavy metals, frost etc. on secondary metabolites in plants.
Abstract: Plant secondary metabolites are unique sources for pharmaceuticals, food additives, flavors, and industrially important biochemicals. Accumulation of such metabolites often occurs in plants subjected to stresses including various elicitors or signal molecules. Secondary metabolites play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the environment and in overcoming stress conditions. Environmental factors viz. temperature, humidity, light intensity, the supply of water, minerals, and CO2 influence the growth of a plant and secondary metabolite production. Drought, high salinity, and freezing temperatures are environmental conditions that cause adverse effects on the growth of plants and the productivity of crops. Plant cell culture technologies have been effective tools for both studying and producing plant secondary metabolites under in vitro conditions and for plant improvement. This brief review summarizes the influence of different abiotic factors include salt, drought, light, heavy metals, frost etc. o...

1,608 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Tasiu Isah1
TL;DR: Application of molecular biology tools and techniques are facilitating understanding the signaling processes and pathways involved in the SMs production at subcellular, cellular, organ and whole plant systems during in vivo and in vitro growth, with application in metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways intermediates.
Abstract: In the growth condition(s) of plants, numerous secondary metabolites (SMs) are produced by them to serve variety of cellular functions essential for physiological processes, and recent increasing evidences have implicated stress and defense response signaling in their production. The type and concentration(s) of secondary molecule(s) produced by a plant are determined by the species, genotype, physiology, developmental stage and environmental factors during growth. This suggests the physiological adaptive responses employed by various plant taxonomic groups in coping with the stress and defensive stimuli. The past recent decades had witnessed renewed interest to study abiotic factors that influence secondary metabolism during in vitro and in vivo growth of plants. Application of molecular biology tools and techniques are facilitating understanding the signaling processes and pathways involved in the SMs production at subcellular, cellular, organ and whole plant systems during in vivo and in vitro growth, with application in metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways intermediates.

618 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence is provided that many plant secondary metabolites have a broad spectrum of bioactivities, which can explain the medical application of complex extracts from medicinal plants for more health disorders which involve several targets.
Abstract: Plants produce a wide diversity of secondary metabolites (SM) which serve them as defense compounds against herbivores, and other plants and microbes, but also as signal compounds. In general, SM exhibit a wide array of biological and pharmacological properties. Because of this, some plants or products isolated from them have been and are still used to treat infections, health disorders or diseases. This review provides evidence that many SM have a broad spectrum of bioactivities. They often interact with the main targets in cells, such as proteins, biomembranes or nucleic acids. Whereas some SM appear to have been optimized on a few molecular targets, such as alkaloids on receptors of neurotransmitters, others (such as phenolics and terpenoids) are less specific and attack a multitude of proteins by building hydrogen, hydrophobic and ionic bonds, thus modulating their 3D structures and in consequence their bioactivities. The main modes of action are described for the major groups of common plant secondary metabolites. The multitarget activities of many SM can explain the medical application of complex extracts from medicinal plants for more health disorders which involve several targets. Herbal medicine is not a placebo medicine but a rational medicine, and for several of them clinical trials have shown efficacy.

557 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The effect of dietary phenolics is currently of great interest due to their antioxidative and possible antic-arcinogenic activities as discussed by the authors, and phenolic acids and flavonoids also function as reducing agents, free radical scavengers, and quenchers of singlet oxygen formation.
Abstract: Flavonoids and phenolic acids make up one of the most pervasive groups of plant phenolics. Due to their importance in plants and human health, it would be useful to have a better understanding of flavonoid concentration and biological activities that could indicate their potentials as therapeutic agents, and also for predicting and controlling the quality of medicinal herbs. Plants and herbs consumed by humans may contain thousands of different phenolic acid and flavonoid components. The effect of dietary phenolics is currently of great interest due to their antioxidative and possible anticarcinogenic activities. Phenolic acids and flavonoids also function as reducing agents, free radical scavengers, and quenchers of singlet oxygen formation. In addition, flavonoids and phenolic acids components play important roles in the control of cancer and other human diseases. Key words: Flavonoids, phenolic acids, biological activities, antioxidative, anticarcinogenic.

557 citations


Cites background from "Plant Secondary Metabolism"

  • ...Furthermore, of the several hundred aglycones isolated from plants, only eight are distributed widely (Seigler, 1998) and the eight most common flavonoid nuclei are kaempferol, quercetin, rutin, catechin, epicatechin, myricetin, anthocyanidins and luteolin....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is time to abandon CNB because continued use of the hypothesis is now hindering understanding of plant–consumer interactions and it is proposed development of theory with a firm evolutionary basis that is mechanistically sophisticated in terms of plant and herbivore physiology and genetics.
Abstract: The idea that the concentration of secondary metabolites in plant tissues is controlled by the availability of carbon and nitrogen in the environment has been termed the carbon–nutrient balance hypothesis (CNB). This hypothesis has been invoked both for prediction and for post hoc explanation of the results of hundreds of studies. Although it successfully predicts outcomes in some cases, it fails to such an extent that it cannot any longer be considered useful as a predictive tool. As information from studies has accumulated, many attempts have been made to save CNB, but these have been largely unsuccessful and have managed only to limit its utility. The failure of CNB is rooted in assumptions that are now known to be incorrect and it is time to abandon CNB because continued use of the hypothesis is now hindering understanding of plant–consumer interactions. In its place we propose development of theory with a firm evolutionary basis that is mechanistically sophisticated in terms of plant and herbivore physiology and genetics.

450 citations