Functional Plant Metabolism

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are considered the primary producers on our planet, since using solar energy they have managed to convert CO₂ and H₂O into various organic compounds, which are actually synthesized though a variety of metabolic processes. Plant metabolism includes both anabolic and catabolic reactions occurring in a plant through enzyme-catalyzed reactions that constitute metabolic pathways, the products of which are called metabolites. Plant metabolites are considered the main nutritional and nutraceutical sources for humans and fall into two categories: the primary metabolites (e.g., carbohydrates, organic acids, amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids, steroids, or lipids) which are used for growth, development, and the reproduction and secondary metabolites (flavonoids, anthocyanins, chlorophyll degradation products, antioxidants)—compounds used to protect plants against herbivores and abiotic stress or attract pollinators.

NMR, liquid and gas chromatography, and MS are different analytical methods of high sensitivity and accuracy used for the comprehensive targeted and non-targeted measurement and identification of metabolites. The use of these methods can result in the chemical profiling of the effect of different biotic and abiotic stresses (salinity, drought, heat), nutritional status, and genetic and environmental influences on several metabolites, thereby leading to the optimization of metabolic processes and concomitantly increased agricultural yield and product quality.

The general idea of this Special Issue is to provide an international base for revealing the underlying current knowledge on primary and secondary metabolism and the biosynthetic pathways of various plant metabolites. In particular, submissions of  review papers and original research reporting novel scientific findings on the following topics (but not limited to these) are welcome:

• Plant growth and primary/secondary metabolism;
• Primary/secondary metabolism and carbohydrate storage;
• Lipids and secondary metabolism;
• Nitrogen fixation and secondary metabolism;
• Secondary metabolism and sulfur;
• Nucleotide metabolism in various plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress;
• Macronutrients’ role in primary and secondary plant metabolism;
• Micronutrients’ role in primary and secondary plant metabolism;
• Abiotic stress and plant metabolism;
• Hormones and the accumulation of biologically active compounds in plants;
• Polyamine metabolism and plant growth;
• Protein metabolism under biotic and abiotic stress;
• Purine alkaloid metabolism and plant growth;
• Impact of PGPRs and biostimulants on plant metabolism and plant growth;
• Optimization of the accumulation of biologically active compounds in plants;
• Medical use of secondary metabolites extracted from plants;
• Plant secondary metabolites in nectar;
• Metabolomic technology to tackle key questions in product quality assessment;
• Secondary metabolites promoting food nutrition and human health.

Dr. Vasileios Fotopoulos 
Assoc. Prof. Ivan Paponov
Assist. Prof. Georgia Ntatsi 
Guest Editors

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